By Samisoni Pareti
Two i-Kiribati men are thanking their lucky stars for their successful rescue after being adrift in a small boat in open waters for four straight days.
Reports from Tarawa – the capital of Kiribati – say the two men were picked up last Saturday evening by a local cargo boat.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion plane was called in to help search for the two after they had failed to return from a one day fishing trip last Tuesday.
Aged 32 and 42 years respectively, the two had left Kuria atoll in Kiribati’s Central Gilbert Islands.
Coordination of the aerial search was offered by the Suva-based Fiji Maritime Surveillance Rescue Coordination Centre.