Fishermen adrift at sea rescued south of Tuvalu

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 was now returning the men to Tuvalu.

The rescue coordination centre is awaiting a final report on the incident from the Tuvalu government.