'We all cried together': Families count blessings after Vanuatu ferry disaster

Families of the Vanuatu ferry survivors are counting their blessings as the search continues for people still missing at sea. Two young siblings swam towards Santo Island after the ferry they were travelling on sank, according to their aunt, Violet Tari. …

Travel deals: New Zealand rail tours, Mt Ruapehu Snowland, Mediterranean and Great Lakes cruises, Vanuatu

Make the most of spring with 50% off Snowland at Whakapapa, Mt Ruapehu, from Monday to Thursday this September. Located in Happy Valley, the purpose-built snow zone offers snowplay, tubing and sledding for the whole family, with the option to add a return …

One person is dead and more than 30 missing after a passenger ferry sank off Vanuatu, officials say

19 people rescued as search continues for passengers after Vanuatu ferry wreck

Nineteen people have been rescued after a passenger vessel went missing off Vanuatu as search teams continue looking for others feared to be missing at sea. The rescue operation is being coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in …

Vanuatu ferry disaster exposes gap between meteorological warnings and action

Antfalo said Vanuatu’s warnings about the conditions were issued days before the MV Matui sank last Friday. “The warnings came out earlier, so we pushed out the warnings on Tuesday. So there was good lead time for them to see the message and act upon it. …

One dead, 30 missing after Vanuatu ferry capsizes

Threat to pull Team Vanuatu out of 2027 Pacific Games escalates as government spends big on soccer

With less than a year to go before the next Pacific Games in Tahiti, the threat by Vanuatu's national sports and Olympic committee to boycott the event is looming ever larger. VASANOC's President, Antoine Boudier,  has made it plain that unless …

Vanuatu ferry disaster: ‘It’s a miracle anyone survived,’ says rescuer

An Australian pilot who helped locate survivors after a ferry disaster in Vanuatu says: “it is a miracle anyone survived”. After the ferry MV Matui sank in rough seas on Friday morning, two have died and more than 30 people remain missing. The ferry …

30 feared dead in Vanuatu sinking

THE Solomon Islands healthy ministry says it is closely monitoring an increase in flu-like illness across the country. Surveillance data in late August showed there was an increase in influenza-like illness  reported at surveillance sites in Honiara and …

Vanuatu Ferry Sinking Leaves One Dead, Dozens Missing

Two ferry disasters in the Pacific have prompted urgent search-and-rescue operations. In Indonesia, the Virgo Transport 8 lost contact in the Java Sea after its captain reported that the vessel was tilting; one person died, 103 were evacuated and about 140 …