3 swim to safety and land on Double island

Three persons missing last night from a boat in Gella have swam to safety and landed on Double Island, just outside of Tulagi.

The director of Solomon Islands Maritime Authority (SIMA) Thierry Nervale, director of SIMA confirmed to SBMOnline this afternoon.

“We just found the 3 persons missing. They swam and landed on Double Island opposite Tulagi. They are at Tulagi hospital now for health check-up but are fine,” he told SBMOnline.

The three were amongst six other persons who went missing last night but as of this morning the six who took off from from West Guadalcanal’s Komivo-Kombuale area had also swam to safety. This means there are no more missing persons.

“We were lucky this time around as we could have again lost 10 to 15 people at sea as they tried and braved the ocean against advanced alert and advice,” said the director.

Nervale has cautioned that the cyclone season is not over so he makes a strong call for travellers to be prudence and to listen to meteorological services advice.

He added that it is also essential ship owners maintain their vessels and secure them in all conditions.