Cook Islands Police are expected to finalise their investigations into the missing crew member of the inter-island vessel Lady Moana and submit their report to the coroner.

Police patrol vessel Te Kukupa II called off the search yesterday for 22-year-old Luke Vakayawa, a Fijian crew member of the Taio Shipping cargo vessel, who fell overboard over the weekend.

Police strategic and media advisor Trevor Pitt said the search was stood down following assessment yesterday morning in discussions with the Maritime Commander.  

“This is due to the comprehensive search conducted by the patrol boat over the past two days. The grid pattern search covered a lot of the area taking into account the currents,” Pitt said.

“Only the lifesaver was sighted again, which had been immediately deployed by the Lady Moana crew.”

Also read: Seafarer dad devastated

Vakayawa fell overboard the Lady Moana cargo vessel while en-route to Rarotonga from Mangaia on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

On Sunday at around 3.43am, the police patrol boat received a distress call reporting a man overboard from the cargo vessel. The crew was mobilised and dispatched early Sunday morning and at 8.45am, reached the location of Lady Moana, which had had no success in recovering the man, after nine hours.

Both vessels returned to Rarotonga later on Sunday. Te Kukupa II resumed the search and rescue mission on Monday morning and returned to the Avatiu Port in the evening without any success in sighting the missing man.

On Monday, Taio Shipping said they could not comment at this time as investigations and search efforts were underway.

Vakayawa arrived in the Cook Islands in March 2023 and began working for the shipping company. He was described as shy, both within his family and in the wider community, and was also a member of Friends of Fiji Inc in Rarotonga.

A memorial service is being organised by the Friend of Fiji Inc and families in Rarotonga.

This is the second incident involving Lady Moana where someone has gone missing overboard.

In September 2019, a seven-year-old boy went missing while returning with his dad from his family’s home island of Rakahanga.

The ship turned and retraced its route, as emergency services were called. Police were alerted, and immediately sent police patrol boat Te Kukupa and a flotilla of Aitutaki fishing and tourist boats. Air Rarotonga sent a plane, to conduct an aerial grid search. The search was scaled back and eventually called off two days later.

A subsequent safety assessment by Maritime New Zealand found significant failings on the company’s ships.

As a result, the MV Grinna II was approved to carry 12 passengers while MV Lady Moana and MV Maungaroa II were registered for cargo operation only.

In January, 2020, Pitt said the final report into the disappearance of the seven-year-old would be provided to the coroner, for an inquest into responsibility for his death.

Yesterday, Pitt said the missing young boy who went overboard some years ago on the voyage from the North has been the subject of a full investigation and that file was submitted to the coroner.  

He said the coroner determines the next steps of these investigations.