The partner of a Cook Islands fisherman found alive after spending a week lost at sea says she feared the worst but never gave up.
Teuamua Malo said a brief and emotional phone call on Thursday night ended days of fear and uncertainty for her family and the wider island community.
Malo said she had spent the past week in anguish after Pone Apiuta disappeared at sea, but never lost faith that he would be found.
Apiuta, 42, from remote Pukapuka Island, disappeared after going fishing on 11 June alongside several other local fishermen.
The crew of an RNZAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane found him on Thursday morning.
He was then rescued by a Taiwanese fishing vessel, which is currently in the Samoa region.
“It was painful,” Malo said of her wait.
“I was crying the whole week, remembering him. But in my heart I could feel he’s still alive. I didn’t give up on him.”
The emotional reunion began with an unexpected phone call from the Taiwanese rescue boat.
“I didn’t know it was him calling,” Malo said. “The number wasn’t a Cook Islands number. I knew it was someone calling from outside the Cook Islands but I didn’t know it was him.”
It was only when she heard his voice that she realised who was on the other end of the line.
“Only when he said, ‘Oh darling’ – that’s when I knew it was him calling.”
The call lasted only a few minutes, she said, because Apiuta was exhausted after his ordeal.
“He was really tired,” she said. “When he rang me last night, I could hear it in his voice. He was tired. He didn’t have a good rest.”
Rather than press him for details about how he survived, Malo chose to let him rest.
“I didn’t say much to him,” she said.
“I just said, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll wait for you. When you come back, that’s when we’ll talk’.”
Pone Apiuta waves to the crew of the RNZAF P-8A Poseidon that found him.
Supplied / NZDF
The brief conversation was enough to bring comfort not only to Malo but also to the couple’s son, Kalalea.
Despite reports that the fisherman may have spent days adrift with limited supplies, Malo said she still did not know how he managed to survive. The only information she received was that mechanical problems had left him stranded.
“He told me the engine for the boat wasn’t working,” she said. “That’s why he drifted out.”
Malo said she believed the breakdown left him unable to return home.
“But I didn’t want to ask more questions because I know he was tired,” she said. “I told him, when you come back, that’s when we talk.”
For much of the past week, hope was sustained not only by family members but by the entire island community.
“The people on the island didn’t give up on him,” Malo said.
“With their help, I was happy when we heard the news he was still alive.”
She described turning to prayer throughout the ordeal.
“I prayed to God,” she said. “I was saying, ‘Thank you, Lord. Thank you for everything’.”
“I think the whole island was with their support. They didn’t give up.”
News of the fisherman’s survival has sparked celebration across Pukapuka, where residents have shared in the family’s relief.
“The whole island was happy,” Malo said.
Asked whether she ever doubted he would return, her answer was immediate.
“Oh yeah, I knew he was still alive,” she said. “Because I know him.”
Apiuta is expected to arrive in Apia on Sunday morning.
Malo said the community was planning to gather to give thanks.
“The whole island will have a prayer to give thanks to the Lord, for the miracle and all that.”
As for the moment she finally sees him again, Malo said she had not fully thought it through.
But she offered a glimpse of the emotions that have built up during the long wait.
“I know I’m going to hug him, scold him, kiss him,” she said.
After days of uncertainty, fear and prayer, it is a reunion she has been waiting for all week.
“I can’t wait for that day to happen.”
Kirianu Nio is the uncle of rescued Cook Islands fisherman Pone Apiuta.
Supplied
Earlier, Apiuta’s uncle, Kirianu Nio, said four small boats went out fishing last Thursday and three returned safely.
The following morning, local search efforts for Apiuta began, with a ferry carrying around 20 men searching waters around the island despite difficult weather conditions.
“There was quite a strong wind and there was a warning relayed from Rarotonga,” Nio said.
“They didn’t actually go that far that morning.”
A local airline also did an aerial search around the island, but there was no sign of the missing fisherman.
A second search mission was later authorised and done by the island’s ferry, while New Zealand search assets were also deployed.
The breakthrough came when Apiuta was located by the New Zealand Air Force before being rescued by a Taiwanese fishing vessel in waters near Samoa on Thursday morning.
For much of the week, hope and fear coexisted across the Pukapuka Island community as residents waited for news.
“We were just hoping that good news would come out,” Nio said.
“There were mixed feelings, especially among the fishermen.”
Now, with confirmation that Apiuta survived the ordeal, those fears have given way to relief.
“There is quite an overwhelming joy around the island and the family,” Nio said.
“We had a prayer of appreciation, and the whole island is anticipating his return.”
Emergency response criticised
While expressing deep appreciation for the efforts that led to Apiuta’s rescue, Nio was critical of what he described as shortcomings in the local emergency response.
He said family members had concerns about the speed of the response after the fisherman was reported missing.
For his family, the news came amid confusion over how information was communicated.
Nio said relatives first learned of the sighting through a Facebook post shared among family members in New Zealand, rather than through official channels.
“There was a little bit of confusion there,” he said.
Police later confirmed the sighting after receiving information from authorities in Rarotonga.
“I made a comment about the slackness from our own emergency team and the response to this emergency call.”
Nio said the family wanted to publicly thank New Zealand authorities for their involvement.
“On behalf of the family, the partner and all our families here, we are very much appreciative of what they have done.”
