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Source: ONE News -
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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says environmental conditions may
hamper the search for survivors of a boat that sank northwest of
the Cocos Islands.
The PM said a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion plane was en
route to the location to assist commercial vessels trying to rescue
more than 20 people missing after the boat sank overnight.
It is believed about 40 people were aboard the vessel when it sank,
and at least 17 people have so far been rescued.
Rudd said locating any more survivors would be difficult.
"Our assets have been deployed, we have co-ordinated with other
vessels in the area, this is a very difficult search environment,"
Rudd told reporters in Townsville, north Queensland.
Two commercial vessels responded to a call for assistance from the
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) after it received a
distress signal from the vessel on Sunday.
Chief of the defence force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said the
vessel was still intact when the first boat reached the scene, 350
nautical miles northwest of the Cocos Islands, but capsized during
the rescue attempt.
Seventeen people were rescued by the Bahamas-based LNG Pioneer
while a Taiwanese fishing vessel is also assisting in the
search.
The nearest Australian government vessel was more than a day and a
half away at the time, though the vessel was within the Australian
search and rescue zone.
Rudd said he did not know where the vessel had departed from or if
those on board were asylum seekers.
He also declined to speculate how the survivors would be processed
if they were asylum seekers.
"All the efforts right now are legitimately dedicated to attending
to lives at risk at sea," he said.
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