Five European divers who had been missing for two days in treacherous waters east of Bali were found drifting but alive by fishermen on Saturday, Indonesian police said.

Police in the Nusa Tenggara island chain where the divers went missing late Thursday said fishermen had located them south of the tiny island of Rinca.

"Fishermen found them floating in the water. They are all safe," Manggarai Barat district police chief Butje Hello told AFP.

He said the divers -- three Britons, a Frenchman and a Swede -- were being taken to Labuanbajo, the western port of Flores island.

The husband of one of the missing British divers told AFP he had not yet spoken to his wife but he was relieved she had been found alive after apparently being swept away in strong currents on Thursday afternoon.

"They are all alive and medical services are on standby. Thank God. I just want to hear my wife's voice," dive master Ernest Lewandowski said.

Police said at least one of the divers was dehydrated but otherwise their condition was not known. A British embassy spokeswoman said a doctor was tending to them.

"We are still in close contact with the local authorities," the embassy spokeswoman said in Jakarta.

A lack of fuel for aircraft meant police had to call on fishermen to help cover the vast search area, after only three search boats could be deployed on Friday.

A commercial aircraft which was scheduled to fly over the area on Saturday morning had promised to circle for an hour but in the end it was not needed.

Lewandowski said he and his wife, Kathleen Mitchinson, who together own the Reefseekers Diving business on Flores, were leading two separate groups of divers when his wife's group got into difficulty.

He only noticed they were missing when his group surfaced an hour after entering the water.

The divers were exploring reefs in the Komodo National Park -- famed for the giant lizard of the same name -- when they vanished in the late afternoon on Thursday.

The area lies about 500 kilometres (300 miles) east of the popular tourist resort island of Bali. It is well known for its teeming sealife at dive sites up to 40 metres deep.

Small reef sharks are common but divers say the main threat comes from currents formed by the combination of relatively shallow water, large depth variations and the channels formed between islands.

The currents can reach eight knots and develop suddenly during tide changes.

A tired or inexperienced diver caught in such a rip could be carried tens of kilometres in a matter of hours and for this reason dive operators do not recommend the area for beginners.

Lewandowski said he and his wife were both experienced divers whose shop was one of only a handful of diving businesses that operates in the national park. >>>>