Vanuatu ferry sinks in heavy weather, leaving one dead and over 30 missing

At least one person has died and another 30 remain missing after an inter-island ferry in Vanuatu sank in poor weather on Friday.

The South Pacific archipelagic island nation with a population of just under 350,000 is located about 1,750 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Australia.

The vessel went down in very heavy seas somewhere between the islands of Santo and Ambae, according to authorities.

The MV Matui, operated by the Tui Shipping Agency, set sail Friday from Santo with more than 40 passengers and crew but never arrived in Ambae.

Prime Minister Jotham Napat's office on Sunday morning said that one body had been recovered, 15 passengers had been "accounted for alive" and "over 30 people are missing at sea."

Napat's office took charge of the search and rescue effort on Sunday afternoon after the prime minister expressed frustration over being unable to reach senior officials.

In a statement, Napat's office said, "Search and rescue operations are continuing," adding that the search "in open waters is being eased off whilst efforts move toward a search along the southeast coast, where currents may have carried survivors."

"To the survivors, we pray for your strength and recovery. To the families of those missing and those we have lost, please know that the nation stands with you in this time of grief," the statement continued.

Napat's office also announced that an investigation into the incident had already been launched amid suspicion of negligence on the part of operator Tui.

"This loss appears to be the result of strong winds and marine warnings not being heeded," it said, "and possibly of negligence including overloading of the vessel."

Reports of how the rescue effort began are hazy, with Vanuatu parliamentary representative Matai Seremaiah — who took part in the search — telling New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ that a crew member had swam ashore and "alerted us that the ship had capsized."

French news agency AFP cited a hotel owner on Santo who told reporters an employee of his had pulled a survivor in a life vest to shore on Saturday afternoon and authorities were immediately alerted.

It is unclear if these accounts refer to the same survivor.

"He looked like he had been in the bathtub for 25 hours — he was wrinkled up and white. He was cold," said hotel owner Ashley Beveridge.

"There was no rescue started until this guy got washed up on our beach — lucky he got washed up in an inhabited area," he added.

Beveridge told AFP that locals had expressed great frustration at the lack of urgency shown by authorities, with private citizens mobilizing cargo ships and a plane on Saturday afternoon to search for survivors on their own.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Noumea, New Caledonia, has said it is now assisting in the search effort.

A French Armed Forces aircraft from New Caledonia was also deployed on Sunday morning.

The MRCC said that 12 people had been located Sunday morning.

Local media reported that survivors were being treated at Northern Provincial hospital on Santo Island.