1 Dec 2014

Fishermen rescued from burning boat

11:27 am on 1 December 2014

The U.S. Coast Guard says 21 fishermen were rescued from a burning boat off Jarvis Island at the weekend.

They were found adrift near their boat, a Kiribati-flagged vessel, 370 kilometres south of the island on Saturday.

A US-flagged fishing vessel Cape Ferrat responded to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre's call for help and found the Betty C on fire and its passengers adrift in a small skiff after abandoning ship.

The Cape Ferrat rescued all 21 passengers from the skiff and will transfer them to American Samoa.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown.

The vessel's owner is working to develop a plan to salvage the vessel.