Donald and David explained that this was a supply boat from Port Vila and it came a couple of times a month. The people on the beach were intending passengers plus their families seeing them off.
The various fertilizer bags filled with pebbles we'd noticed on the shores earlier were also destined for Port Vila, the rounded river stones being much in demand for traditional cooking.
Since passengers could only be loaded on half a dozen at a time, the process was a lengthy one and we watched for a couple of hours until finally the vessel headed out of the bay. It didn't even get out of sight before it turned back and then anchored.
It remained anchored overnight and at dawn, passengers were being ferried ashore.
A few hours later, what was identified as an engine problem was rectified and the whole embarkation process recommenced. Once they were under way again, we took the opportunity to check AIS. Yup, just as we had guessed - if we encounter one of these 'cruise to nowhere' vessels in coming weeks we'll need to rely on our eye balls. There's no AIS on these rust buckets!
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