Ghost Yacht Found Off Australia

Created by doina. Last modified on 2007-04-24 13:03:08
Topic: YACHT SEARCH
Countries: Australia

The mystery of a yacht found drifting off the North Queensland coast remains as the official search for its missing crew is called off.

On Wednesday April 18th a helicopter spotted the Kaz II, a 12m (40 foot) catamaran; when rescue services reached the boat on Friday they found no one aboard. The engine was running, a table laid for dinner, but there was no sign of the three man crew.

The boat left Airlie Beach on Sunday bound for Townsville on the first leg of a voyage around northern Australia. All the sails were up, though one was badly torn, and the liferaft was missing.

The missing men were skipper Derek Batten, 56, and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, ages 69 and 63 who all come from Perth, Western Australia.

A massive search operation was launched with no success, leading to Australian police calling off the search on Sunday. Analysis of the vessel's GPS suggests it had been drifting since the previous Sunday, when the crew, who were experienced sailors, may have been swept overboard by rough seas, although the met office says conditions then were not out of the ordinary. The men's families have not yet given up hope and will continue to search nearby islands for any signs.