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'Ghost yacht' found floating off Great Barrier Reef
Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Friday April 20, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
A police handout photo of the yacht found floating around off Australia's Queensland coast with food on a table ready to eat and computers running, but no crew. Photograph: EPA
Rescuers in Australia are trying to solve the mystery of a yacht found drifting in calm waters off the Great Barrier Reef with food on the table, computers and engine running, but no sign of the three-man crew.
The 12-metre catamaran Kaz II was first spotted drifting off north Queensland on Wednesday by an aircraft on coastguard duty. A rescue helicopter was sent to the scene and circled overhead several times, with the pilot radioing back that there was no one aboard.
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Emergency services who later boarded the craft found it in good order but said there was no sign of the crew of three men aged 53, 66 and 69.
Emergency Management Queensland spokesman Jon Hall said rescuers were puzzled because "everything appeared normal".
"It looked like the boat had been recently abandoned. The engine was still running in neutral [but] one of the sails had been damaged," he said.
"There was a laptop computer on board and running with power, the computers on board were running, all of their clothing was still there.
"The table was actually set for a meal with food and cutlery in place. The radio was working, the GPS was working and things below deck were normal except for the absence of crew."
Three lifejackets and survival equipment, including an emergency beacon, were found on board, but no life rafts.
Mr Hall said emergency crews returned to the boat this morning, around 160km east of Townsville, to check that no one was trapped inside.
He said they retrieved the boat's GPS system to analyse data for clues as to the crew's disappearance.
"It will enable us to track backwards where this yacht has actually been in the last few days, and we're hoping that can pinpoint the search area for the missing crew," he said.
Emergency workers have also retrieved computers, diaries and charts and the boat is being towed to shore for closer inspection.
"It seems very unusual," the north Queensland police chief Superintendent Roy Wall told, reporters in Townsville.
"The weather on Sunday, Monday wasn't too good - there was a fair sort of a wind blowing out there. But it's improved since then, so who knows what could have happened."
Police said they believed the three friends had bought the boat recently and were planning to sail it back to Western Australia. Their families have been informed.
Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Friday April 20, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
A police handout photo of the yacht found floating around off Australia's Queensland coast with food on a table ready to eat and computers running, but no crew. Photograph: EPA
Rescuers in Australia are trying to solve the mystery of a yacht found drifting in calm waters off the Great Barrier Reef with food on the table, computers and engine running, but no sign of the three-man crew.
The 12-metre catamaran Kaz II was first spotted drifting off north Queensland on Wednesday by an aircraft on coastguard duty. A rescue helicopter was sent to the scene and circled overhead several times, with the pilot radioing back that there was no one aboard.
Article continues
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Emergency services who later boarded the craft found it in good order but said there was no sign of the crew of three men aged 53, 66 and 69.
Emergency Management Queensland spokesman Jon Hall said rescuers were puzzled because "everything appeared normal".
"It looked like the boat had been recently abandoned. The engine was still running in neutral [but] one of the sails had been damaged," he said.
"There was a laptop computer on board and running with power, the computers on board were running, all of their clothing was still there.
"The table was actually set for a meal with food and cutlery in place. The radio was working, the GPS was working and things below deck were normal except for the absence of crew."
Three lifejackets and survival equipment, including an emergency beacon, were found on board, but no life rafts.
Mr Hall said emergency crews returned to the boat this morning, around 160km east of Townsville, to check that no one was trapped inside.
He said they retrieved the boat's GPS system to analyse data for clues as to the crew's disappearance.
"It will enable us to track backwards where this yacht has actually been in the last few days, and we're hoping that can pinpoint the search area for the missing crew," he said.
Emergency workers have also retrieved computers, diaries and charts and the boat is being towed to shore for closer inspection.
"It seems very unusual," the north Queensland police chief Superintendent Roy Wall told, reporters in Townsville.
"The weather on Sunday, Monday wasn't too good - there was a fair sort of a wind blowing out there. But it's improved since then, so who knows what could have happened."
Police said they believed the three friends had bought the boat recently and were planning to sail it back to Western Australia. Their families have been informed.
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