GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Rescuers were reporting 219 saved at 08:00 Swiss time but another 350 are missing after a boat disaster in Papua New Guinea. The MV Rabaul Queen, operated by Star Ships, which is one of the country’s largest ferry operators, sank between Lae and Kimbe West after being reported missing at about 08:30 local time Thursday 2 February, but the reason for the boat going down is not  yet known. Australian News.com reports that six merchant vessels are in the area, helping search for survivors and that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has “arranged ships in the area to conduct rescues and for aircraft to fly over the area”.

The owners issued a statement, according to Reuters, that the boat sank quickly, without sending a distress signal.

New Britain Island is a hugely popular diving area that pulls in international tourists.

Links to other sites: Herald Sun, Australia, Reuters

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Posted by Ellen Wallace on 2 February 2012 at 9:08 | permalink
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News story, GenevaLunch, 2 February 2012.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.