MV Matui ferry disaster: search ends with 37 people still missing
Transport
How the score is calculated
The score starts at 8. It adds points from recorded affected, deaths, displaced and casualty counts, plus terms found in the story title, event type or status. For each count, only its highest matching band is used.
- Affected people
- 1–999: +5 · 1,000–9,999: +12 · 10,000–99,999: +20 · 100,000–999,999: +28 · 1 million+: +35
- Deaths
- 1–9: +8 · 10–99: +14 · 100–999: +22 · 1,000+: +30
- Displaced people
- 1–9,999: +6 · 10,000–99,999: +12 · 100,000+: +18
- Casualties
- 100 or more: +8
- Story wording
- +10 for terms such as catastrophe, famine, war, conflict, major earthquake, mass casualty or critical. Otherwise, +5 for active, ongoing, emergency, outbreak, cyclone or hurricane.
Score bands: Watch 0–24 · Moderate 25–49 · High 50–74 · Critical 75–100. Scores are capped at 100. Missing or unparseable figures add no points.
This is a rule-based WorldsAid triage indicator, not an official or independently validated classification. It does not account for recency or local context, and it can understate events with incomplete reporting. Check the linked sources.
In brief
- What happenedVanuatu authorities ended the search for people missing after the MV Matui sank in rough seas on 11 September 2026 while travelling from Santo to Ambae.
- How many affectedAffected persons: 53 · Deaths: 2 · People aboard · reconciled manifest: 53
- What help is neededResponse priorities should be confirmed in the linked source reports as needs change.
What changed
Updated verified snapshot
This record was first dated 2026-09-11 and last verified 2026-09-18.
Situation
Vanuatu authorities ended the search for people missing after the MV Matui sank in rough seas on 11 September 2026 while travelling from Santo to Ambae. The latest reconciled manifest reported 53 people aboard: 14 survivors, two people recovered dead and 37 still missing when the search at sea ended on 17 September. Authorities described 39 people as believed or presumed dead, but WorldsAid retains the two recovered deaths and 37 missing people as separate verified figures rather than converting everyone missing into confirmed fatalities. Earlier reporting recorded 15 people alive, one body recovered and more than 30 missing on 13 September; by 15 September, the working count had changed to 14 survivors and two recovered bodies as the manifest and search record were reconciled. The sinking was not reported for about a day and the number aboard remained uncertain for several days. Vanuatu's Maritime Safety Authority filed criminal complaints concerning alleged maritime-law breaches, while reported overloading, passenger authorisation and failures to heed marine warnings remain matters for investigation. Prime Minister Jotham Napat pledged an independent investigation. Families on Santo and Ambae continue to face bereavement and uncertainty after the search concluded.
WorldsAid verification
A WorldsAid editor reviewed this record against 3 attributed sources, cleaned feed formatting and checked the event, place and reporting date. 9 human-impact figures were separated from the narrative and dated where the source allowed. Earlier observations remain in the evidence history instead of being silently overwritten.
Verified figures
- Affected persons
- 53 retained at 2026-09-18
- Deaths
- 2 retained at 2026-09-18
- People aboard · reconciled manifest
- 53 retained at 2026-09-18
- Survivors
- 14 people retained at 2026-09-18
- Confirmed recovered deaths
- 2 people retained at 2026-09-18
- Still missing when search ended
- 37 people retained at 2026-09-18
- Believed or presumed dead
- 39 people · not recorded as 39 confirmed deaths retained at 2026-09-18
- Route
- Santo to Ambae, Vanuatu retained at 2026-09-18
- Search status
- Search at sea ended 17 September 2026 retained at 2026-09-18
What we knew when
- WorldsAid record entered the retained historical dataset.
- SEARCH ONGOING · 15 PEOPLE ACCOUNTED FOR ALIVE · 1 BODY RECOVERED · MORE THAN 30 MISSING preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
- SEARCH ONGOING · MANIFEST RECONCILED TO 53 ABOARD · 14 SURVIVORS · 2 BODIES RECOVERED · MORE THAN 30 MISSING preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
- SEARCH ENDED 17 SEPTEMBER · 53 ABOARD · 14 SURVIVORS · 2 CONFIRMED RECOVERED DEAD · 37 MISSING preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
Earlier figures are never replaced by later values; additional observations are retained as new ledger entries.
Provenance
This page renders the last verified WorldsAid cache directly in HTML. It does not treat generated summaries as primary evidence.
Cached dataset: worldsai_drup771.sql.gz
Verified
SHA-256 4d43d44dad7babd1d8c8d0f9efab45bb4b6f45f4c746cf058abb5a5826025d38