14 Feb 2012

Samoa police suspend search for three missing at sea

6:56 pm on 14 February 2012

The police in Samoa have suspended the search for three men missing with their fishing for a week.

The search involved a New Zealand air force Orion aircraft, the Samoan Patrol Boat Nafanua, the US Coast Guard in American Samoa, as well as Samoan and US-Flagged fishing vessels and Polynesian Airlines and Inter-Island Airways.

A statement says it's believed the alia fishing boat is likely to have been lost off the Upolu islands of Nuulua and Nuutele during rough weather last Monday night.

The vessel had three crew: Sailini Simi from the village of Sataua, Faavae from the village of Falefa and Talavou from the village of Vailele.

The Officer in Charge of the Police Maritime Wing, Superintendent Tagaolo Iosefatu Wright, says this is a sad end to an all too common story in the Samoan Islands.