Swells hamper search for yachties missing near Tonga

A search of an island near for Tonga for two missing yachties has been called off for today.

Large sea swells have been preventing search teams from getting on the island on the island of Late, near Vava'u, Tonga.

The men have been missing since Thursday night when the yacht they were on ran aground on the island.

Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) has been coordinating the search to locate the Englishman and Australian, who are both in their 60s.

Two days of sea and air searches failed to fnid the men but did locate the hull of the yacht, debris and an undeployed life raft.

RCCNZ Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator John Dickson said it was important a comprehensive search of the island was done to rule out the possibility the men had made it ashore and were waiting for assistance.

"Conditions will be reviewed in the morning when we hope the swell will have abated," he said.

The men had reported via a satellite phone call to a relative in Australia on Thursday  that they had run aground and their Bavaria yacht was breaking up.

An emergency locator beacon was activated at the same time, around 10.30pm.

- © Fairfax NZ News