The two people had last been seen on board a 5.8m fibreglass boat departing Tarawa, Kiribati, on the afternoon of 30 September. They had planned to go to Maiana Island, an atoll about 2-3 hours away from Tarawa.
The Rescue Coordination Centre Fiji sought assistance from New Zealand through the Rescue Coordination Centre NZ, who requested an Orion assist with the search.
Aircrew on the Orion departed RNZAF Base Auckland on Tuesday to search for the pair, covering a search area of approximately 7300 square nautical miles on the first day of searching.
