A Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion has been helping search for a group of six young people missing off the west of Kiribati, in the Pacific.
They were onboard a nine foot outrigger canoe, which was towing a seven foot dingy, on an expedition to collect palm leaves for roofing.
The vessels are believed to have drifted out of a lagoon and in to the open ocean.
A local ship and two foreign fishing vessels have been searching.
And on Sunday Kiribati authorities asked for help from New Zealand.
An RNZAF P3 Orion has gone there and searched an area of approximately 600 square nautical miles on Sunday and will continue searching on Monday if necessary.
A senior search and rescue officer at the Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand, Keith Allen, says the weather conditions in the area have been good.
