The relief ships will take 3 days to reach Tonga

The Royal New Zealand Navy dispatched two ships to Tonga on Tuesday, but New Zealand’s defense minister said it would take three days for them to reach the Polynesian island nation, CNN report.

Tonga was hit by a tsunami and covered in ash after an undersea volcano Eruptions 40 miles south of the capital city Saturday. Two people died in Tonga, and two others drowned in Peru after the high waves caused by the eruption reached the coast of that country.

HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Aotearoa left New Zealand for Tonga on Tuesday, a journey of more than 1,400 miles. The ships carry a rescue helicopter, disaster relief supplies and a desalination plant to produce fresh water. Much of the fresh water on the low-lying islands of Tonga has been contaminated by saltwater flooding and falling ash.

New York Times alert that aid workers also risked bringing COVID to Tonga, where there has been virtually no virus so far. The country’s only confirmed case to date was discovered in an air traveler from New Zealand in October, NPR report. According to the World Health Organization, more than 137,000 doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered to about 100,000 people in Tonga.

Communication with Tonga remains hazy due to damaged submarine cables connecting the archipelago to the outside world, but aerial surveillance photos show the entire island covered in monochromatic ash.

According to CNN, repairs to the cable line are expected to begin until February.