The surviving crew of a Korean deep sea trawler are being questioned on Friday by police as an investigation begins into why the ship sank.
The Oyang 70 was carrying 51 crew from Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines and China when it sank 740km east of Dunedin early on Wednesday.
Three crew are confirmed dead and three others, including the Korean captain, are presumed drowned.
Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae, of Christchurch, says 12 officers are interviewing the crew with the help of translators.
The 45 survivors were brought to shore on Friday morning by Talley's vessel the Amaltal Atlantis and a company representative has spoken about his pride in the way the rescue was carried out.
The crew of the Amaltal Atlantis worked in swells of up to two metres to haul five life rafts onto the ship and then spent hours in a small rescue craft searching for the missing crewmen.
Talley's deep sea division chief executive Tony Hazlett met his crew when the ship docked and told them he was very proud.
Meanwhile, Southern Storm Fishing of Christchurch says another fishing trawler, the Oyang 77, is heading toward the area where the Oyang 70 sank to look for the missing men.
The Amaltal Atlantis was met in the port of Lyttelton on Friday by several government agencies and welcomed by a karakia.
Ngai Tahu performed a tapu-lifting ceremony before a ceremony was conducted by members of the Muslim Association of Canterbury.
