The Coast Guard has assisted in the rescue of three people near Chuuk Atoll and is searching for a fourth.

Coast Guard personnel in Guam on Tuesday received a request for assistance in the search for an overdue 19-foot skiff carrying four people. It was missing since Sunday.

The agency says the men had left Weno, Chuuk, for Fananu Island, Hall Islands.

A commercial ship, the Nord Venus, found three of the men 23 miles north of Chuuk.

An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu searched for the fourth man.

The rescued men say their boat started taking on water four hours after departing.

Chuuk Atoll is part of the Federated States of Micronesia.