The ferry was reported missing when it did not arrive two days after setting sail from Nonouti Island, but New Zealand, which assists with maritime rescues in the area, was not asked for help for more than a week.

On its second day of an aerial search using radar and ocean-current modeling, the New Zealand military found an aluminum dinghy with seven people on board, including a 14-year-old girl, who had survived in the motorless vessel for more than a week with no shade or supplies.

At the time, the New Zealand military said it was “optimistic” about finding more survivors. The passengers rescued from the dinghy said others had escaped the sinking in a life raft after the ferry split in two.

The ferry hit an atoll after setting sail, and repairs were carried out to the propeller shaft.

The New Zealand military said a week of wind and ocean currents meant the search area was growing by the day, and by Monday it had reached 200,000 square miles.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb, a spokesman for the New Zealand effort, said that it was not unusual for the country’s military to be asked for help when boats went missing, and that people often traveled between Kiribati’s atolls in “rudimentary vessels.”