By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
The MV Matui set out from the island of Santo bound for Ambae on Friday, carrying more than 40 passengers and crew. It sailed into very rough seas and never arrived, according to Vanuatu's government, as reported by Al Jazeera and the Guardian.
By the weekend, officials confirmed one death and said more than 30 people remained missing. The prime minister's office told families of those unaccounted for that "the nation stands with you," the Guardian reported, as search and rescue crews worked the waters between the two islands.
Al Jazeera reported that the government has since scaled back search operations in open water, a sign of the narrowing odds of finding more survivors as time passes. No cause for the sinking has been given beyond the rough conditions at sea, and Vanuatu authorities have not detailed what safety equipment or communications the vessel carried.
Vanuatu, a nation of more than 80 islands spread across the South Pacific, depends heavily on inter-island ferries for transport, and maritime accidents have drawn scrutiny there before. This is a developing story, and the missing-persons count could change as search efforts continue or are called off entirely.
— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera and the Guardian.
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