Fishing crew saves abandoned dog

A fishing crew has boarded an abandoned tanker to rescue a dog that has been adrift on the vessel in the Pacific Ocean for 19 days, officials said.

"They were trying to calm her down," said Martha Armstrong, the vice president of the US Humane Society.

"She's been without company for 19 days, with several flyovers, she's probably really excited."

Ms Armstrong said the crew on board the Insiko 1907 planned planned to bring Forgea back to Honolulu.

The dog was discovered by the US coast guard making an aerial inspection of the ship, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Johnston Island.

We saw the dog running from one end of the bridge to the other

Lt Chris Shivery, US coast guard

The vessel has been drifting unmanned since 2 April.

The two-year-old dog was left on board after the Insiko's 12-strong crew abandoned ship following a fire.

The Hawaii Humane Society mounted a $50,000 air-and-sea search to rescue Forgea but the ship could not be found and was presumed to have sunk.

'Very much alive'

The Insiko was rediscovered by the coast guard searching for the ship to determine whether it posed an environmental threat to Johnston Island.

The plane's crew said they had seen a dog on the deck of the ship.

"We saw the dog running from one end of the bridge to the other," co-pilot Lt Chris Shivery told the Honolulu Advertiser.

"Definitely very much alive and apparently fairly healthy," the paper quoted him as saying.

Petty Officer David Mosley said the crew had dropped their lunches onto the boat for the dog to eat.