The search for 29 missing Taiwanese fisherman missing off the coast of Kiribati in the Pacific has been suspended.

A New Zealand Air Force Orion and 14 crew had been searching for the crew after the boat was found burnt-out, but still afloat, on November 9. The life rafts were missing from the Taiwanese long liner.

Squadron Leader Mike Pearson says more than 10,000 square miles of ocean has been covered and the crew has flown more than 30 hours of search operations. He says they will maintain an Orion and crew on two-hour standby should a request be made to do so.