East New Britain Province has suffered another tragic sea accident, just two months after a major loss of life at sea. Sometime during the afternoon of Saturday, 19th September, a boat carrying 14 passengers capsized while travelling to the Duke of York Islands.

According to the East New Britain Police report, the vessel overturned near Pidgin Island— approximately the same location of the devastating July 18th maritime disaster. At this stage, It is currently unclear whether the vessel departed from Kokopo Beach or Tropicana Wharf. 

Rescue efforts have recovered four survivors yesterday, with one passenger confirmed deceased this morning who was recovered at Korere SSM. 

Police Patrol Vessel (PPV) Manning was deployed by the Royal PNG Constabulary this morning to assist in the ongoing search and rescue operation.

Throughout the morning, the PPV Manning located and rescued two females clinging to rocks at the base of a steep cliff at 1016 hours. These individuals were successfully brought aboard the vessel and are now receiving medical attention. They were subsequently transported to Atham Wharf, where disaster response teams facilitated medical treatment.

At approximately 1116 hours, the PPV Manning encountered a banana boat in distress that had located two very small children and an adult male. With assistance from the MV Mira Spirit, the two young children, one of whom was in a severely weakened state, were transferred onto the PPV Manning for urgent medical care.

The vessel then proceeded to transfer the two women from earlier along with the two children to Atham Wharf, where they were met by disaster response personnel and transferred to Nonga Hospital for immediate treatment.

In addition, the banana boat involved in the rescue managed to recover two adult males from a cove nearby and transported them to Atham Wharf for medical assessment as well.

As of 1330 hours, both the PPV Manning and MV Mira Spirit resumed search operations, focusing on locating the remaining four passengers believed to still be missing.

The East New Britain Provincial Disaster Agency has confirmed the official toll: nine rescued, one deceased, and four missing. Local authorities have stated they are fully committed to continuing the search until all individuals are accounted for.