The search for nearly 100 people feared missing after a ferry sinking off Papua New Guinea will continue on Friday as 246 are saved.
A major rescue operation, involving the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and PNG authorities, rescued most of those on board.
Australia's High Commissioner to PNG, Ian Kemish, said 246 people had been saved so far.
Many of those have been returned to Lae, where they underwent checkups at the local hospital.
'None of them had sustained any real injuries. They were pretty cold and miserable,' Lae Chamber of Commerce president Alan McLay told Sky News.
He said more survivors would arrive on Friday.
Mr Kemish could not say exactly what caused the disaster but believed conditions may have played a part.
'I think it's a fair bet that the very severe weather that's being experienced in some parts of Papua New Guinea played a role, but I can't say much more about the cause of the sinking beyond that at this stage,' he told ABC TV.
'What we can say with accuracy is that 246 lives have been saved so far as the result of a very solid joint Australia-Papua New Guinea operation.'
An angry crowd reportedly stoned the office of the shipping company that owned the ferry, Rabaul Shipping Company, overnight.
'There were a lot of people crying and then they wanted to know the fate of their loved ones, the people actually who were on board the Rabaul ship,' Senior Inspector Samson Siguyaru in Kimbe told the ABC.
'I had to send in the police to rescue (the staff), get them out of the office to a location where it is safe for them.'
Rabaul Shipping on Thursday said it was devastated by the disaster.
'We are stunned and utterly devastated by what has happened,' managing director Peter Sharp said in a statement.
The company said the ferry's captain had routine radio contact with another vessel before the sinking and gave no indication anything was wrong.
Rescue efforts, including by Australian boats and aircraft, have been hampered by rough seas but will continue on Friday.
