At least one person has died and more than 30 remain missing after a ferry sank off the coast of Vanuatu, the office of Prime Minister Jotham Napat said on Sunday.Search and rescue operations were continuing after the MV Matui sank on Friday while travelling between the islands of Ambae and Santo. The ferry was carrying dozens of passengers and crew members, according to news agency Reuters.Fifteen people have been accounted for alive, the prime minister’s office said in a statement posted on Facebook.According to New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ, the inter-island ferry sank in bad weather. Authorities have since been searching for survivors in the waters around the Pacific island nation, located about 1,750 km (1,090 miles) east of Australia.The prime minister’s office said the search “in open waters is being eased off whilst efforts move toward a search along the south-east coast, where currents may have carried survivors”.“This loss appears to be the result of strong winds and marine warnings not being heeded, and possibly of negligence including overloading of the vessel,” the statement said.“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,” it added.
