1.   A Customs aircraft sighted the boat off the coast of St. Thomas island packed with suspicious, color-coded packages, Lopez said.

2.   A seaside resort owner called a Manila radio station and said his staff had sighted rescue boats off the coast shooting flares in the air.

3.   ABC radio reported a second boat had been sighted floating in seas near Manihiki.

4.   Naron said a surveillance aircraft sighted the boat late Sunday night and radioed the Coast Guard, who took up chase immediately.

5.   He said the same defence forces boat was sighted earlier in the day outside Komaleai village in the Shortland Islands.

6.   A German freighter sighted the boat on Friday afternoon and alerted the coastguards.

7.   An air and sea exercise was staged off the islands by South Korea after a Japanese patrol boat was sighted in the area.

8.   But South Korean police said there were no Japanese fishing boats in the vicinity when the Japanese patrol boat was sighted and placed under close surveillance Saturday.