A New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) plane has been sent to search for a missing vessel in the Pacific Ocean.
The vessel went missing off the coast of the tiny island nation of Tuvalu earlier on Sunday, and set off its emergency locator beacon.
The plane that departed from Auckland is a P-3K2 Orion.
The NZDF has been active in the Pacific Islands in recent times.
In January, it joined the search for a missing ferry in Kiribati which had more than 50 people on board.
It also offered a plane to assist in the seach for a missing boat with nine people onboard in December 2017.
Newshub.
