Three fishermen adrift at sea for 24 hours have been rescued south of Tuvalu over the weekend.
The Nadi Rescue Coordination Centre said the men set off a distress signal around 4pm on Saturday about 144 kilometres south of Funafuti.
A New Zealand PC3 Orion located the men and their six metre skiff a few kilometres from where they set off their personal locator beacon.
They were then picked up by a merchant vessel the MV Talomoana around 4 on Sunday afternoon.
It is understood the vessel is returning the men to Tuvalu.
The rescue coordination centre is awaiting a final report on the incident from the Tuvalu government.
Radio New Zealand 2018