Hundreds of people congregated in South Auckland last night mourning lives lost after the ill-fated Princess Aishika ferry sank in Tonga last week.
Divers and search teams will today spend their third day with the grim task of looking for bodies of the 93 people still missing after the ferry capsized in Ha'apai waters.
Two bodies and 54 survivors have so far been found.
Police in Tonga today will begin meeting with family members of those still missing, feared dead.
Grieving and prayers for those missing began in South Auckland yesterday as up to 1000 people from the Tongan and wider Pacific communities packed into the Tongan Methodist Church, Lotofalei'a , the New Zealand Herald reported.
Three men and a woman who had relatives among the missing were called to the altar to light white candles, each with a different symbolic meaning.
One was for the children whose lives were lost or have been affected, one for the mothers, one for fathers and the other for foreign victims.
Several smaller candles were lit, symbolising the survivors.
A Tongan Methodist Church member, Salote Lilo, told the congregation: " A great tragedy has swept this island nation -- the Friendly Islands -- our beloved island.
Meanwhile, it's feared a young New Zealander serving with an international police force on the Solomon Islands, Sisiliah Puleheloto, 24, has died in the tragedy.
Her Tongan cousin 'Akesa Luani of Puke in Tongatapu told the Matangi Tonga newspaper Ms Puleheloto boarded the Princess Ashika with Ms Luani's brother, Dwenelle, 25.
Mr Luani survived the capsize, but last saw Ms Puleheloto grasping at seats inside the passenger lounge, as the ferry rolled over, swamped by waves in the middle of the night.
As the ferry overturned, the water came up so quickly he could not get back to help her.
The ferry was thought to have sunk in less than a minute.
"Unfortunately the dream holiday has turned into a nightmare, which has cost her life," Ms Luani said.
Ms Puleheloto was serving in the Solomon Islands under the Regional Assistance Mission, widely known as RAMSI, when she took leave to visit her Tongan cousins for the first time on August 3.
She wanted to do some sightseeing and see what it was like in the outer islands.
The newspaper said on its website that Ms Puleheloto was an outgoing, energetic and down to earth person who was always happy and smiling.
Commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Andrew McMillan said the New Zealand diving team searching for bodies was using an autonomous underwater vehicle.
It was "like a torpedo which flies around under the water scanning the bottom", to try to find the wreckage.
The topography was challenging, with depths ranging from 35-800m.
Their equipment was effective to 115m at the most, making the depth of the vessel's resting place crucial to its discovery.
"So with the topography, with the uncertainty of where the vessel has gone down, we have to face the realisation that we might not even be able to find it," Lt Cdr McMillan said.
Tongan police commander Chris Kelley yesterday said a complete manifest was held by a crew member on the ferry when it sailed but that had been lost in the sinking.
"What we are faced (with) is that people are telling us they put people on the boat and they weren't on the manifest that was supplied here," he said.
