MELBOURNE • Police in the Solomon Islands yesterday said they had retrieved five bodies in their search for 27 people who were swept off a ferry during a cyclone that is now threatening the nearby South Pacific nation of Vanuatu as a category four storm.

The MV Taimareho set sail early last Thursday in strong winds with 738 passengers including crew and the captain on board.

Police said the missing are believed to have fallen off during heavy seas.

The voyage was part of a government programme to evacuate people to their home villages during the coronavirus pandemic. The Solomon Islands is one of the few countries with no reported Covid-19 cases.

Cyclone Harold - then a category two storm - crossed just to the south of Solomon Islands early last Friday.

Police said the ferry has since found a shelter at Su'u Harbour in Malaita province, adding in a statement that the bodies discovered were those of three females and two males.

Cyclone Harold was moving slowly south-east towards nearby Vanuatu yesterday with maximum sustained winds estimated at 175kmh, the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department said in a statement.

Hurricane-force winds gusting to 235 kmh were expected to affect the island chain's northern provinces, the department added.

Vanuatu was hit hard in 2015 by Cyclone Pam, a category five cyclone that pummelled the capital Port Vila and other islands.

Vanuatu declared a state of emergency on March 2, in response to the virus.

REUTERS