The Australian Navy and a United States Coastguard aircraft have joined a search for seven Marshall Islanders who failed to return to an isolated atoll from a fishing trip.
The men, aged between 18 and 30, were due back early on Friday from an expedition in a six-metre boat gathering tropical fish for export.
TSL Enterprises, the company they work for, says they make the trip a couple of times a week and are likely to have run out of fuel or had problems with their engine.
Four Australian naval vessels will begin searching on Sunday, along with a US coastguard C-130 Hercules.
