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Timble2 Imaginary person Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Total posts: 7114 Location: Practically in Narnia Age: 58 Gender: Female |
 Posted: 20-04-2007 09:50 Post subject: Ghost Yacht: a modern Mary Celeste |
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A classic story re-emerges for the 21st century:
| Quote: | 'Ghost yacht' found off Australia
Emergency services in Australia have launched a search for the three-man crew of a yacht found drifting off the North Queensland coast.
The vessel was found with its engine running, and a table laid for dinner, but there were no signs of any people.
An air and sea rescue operation has been launched to retrace the yacht's voyage, and pinpoint the search area.
The three-crew members are thought to have set sail for Townsville from Airlie Beach on Sunday.
The 12m (40 foot) catamaran was spotted by a helicopter on Wednesday, but a rescue team only reached the boat on Friday, and confirmed that there was no one aboard.
Rescue crews say they are puzzled by the mysterious disappearance.
"The engine was running, the computers were running, there was a laptop set up on the table which was running, the radio was working... and there was food and utensils set on the table ready to eat," said Jon Hall, a spokesman for Queensland's Emergency Management office.
"It was a bit strange," he added.
All the vessel's sails were up, although one was badly shredded, and lifejackets were still on board.
Mr Hall said rescue workers had recovered the boat's global position system (GPS) device, which might give them more clues as to the crew's whereabouts.
"That will now 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.
Twelve aircraft are now searching for the crew of the boat which is already being dubbed "the ghost yacht".
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6574547.stm
Published: 2007/04/20 05:16:42 GMT
© BBC MMVII |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17938 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 10:35 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | All the vessel's sails were up, although one was badly shredded, |
Ah! Obviously they were carried off by winged thylacines. |
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| Xanatico Great Old One Joined: 11 Nov 2005 Total posts: 1141 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 14:16 Post subject: |
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Typical, nothing original these days, just all remakes. 
If the laptop on the table was not plugged in they might have been able to look at the battery and determine how long it had been there. And of course look at how mouldy the food was. But great story certainly, I hadn´t thought we´d see something like this again. |
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| SameOldVardoger Great Old One Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 16:14 Post subject: |
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| Perhaps they have been attacked by pirates? |
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| Xanatico Great Old One Joined: 11 Nov 2005 Total posts: 1141 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 16:19 Post subject: |
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| I think then you would expect blood and signs of struggle. And probably for laptop and such to be missing. I don´t think pirates are common in that area either. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17938 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
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| liveinabin1 Great Old One Joined: 19 Oct 2001 Total posts: 2140 Location: insert witty comment here Gender: Female |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 18:34 Post subject: |
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| I am taking this with a pinch of salt. I can't help but wonder if the details have been slightly over blown. |
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| Xanatico Great Old One Joined: 11 Nov 2005 Total posts: 1141 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 19:02 Post subject: |
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| I´m thinking it might be some kind of viral advertising, and that it hasn´t really happened. Damn those advertising companies for not playing fair anymore. |
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| elvissa Idler in pyjamas Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Total posts: 265 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 20-04-2007 20:14 Post subject: |
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Maybe a shark smelt their dinner and invited himself in?  |
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| Philo_T But, this one goes to 11! Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Total posts: 1339 Location: slaving away in the bit mines Age: 47 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 21-04-2007 04:29 Post subject: |
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another classic case of 'last one to jump in the water is an indian' gone horribly wrong.
Why won't people ever learn?!!!
At least wait until the engines aren't running before calling that. |
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| Mythopoeika Boring petty conservative
Joined: 18 Sep 2001 Total posts: 9109 Location: Not far from Bedford Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 21-04-2007 10:11 Post subject: |
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| My theory is that one of the guys was doing some fishing, caught something big, the other guys tried to help, and they all got dragged overboard... daft I know. |
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| gncxx King-Size Canary
Great Old One Joined: 25 Aug 2001 Total posts: 13561 Location: Eh? Gender: Male |
| Posted: 21-04-2007 20:25 Post subject: |
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It might be as simple as one chap falling overboard and the others following him into the drink when they tried to save him. If they're not on the boat they must be in the sea, unless they were kidnapped.
It's sort of a seafaring Flannan Isles case, isn't it? |
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| OldTimeRadio Great Old One Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Total posts: 5539 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio USA Age: 72 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 22-04-2007 22:30 Post subject: |
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Here's my landlubber's scenario:
1. One man is swept overboard or falls from the deck into the sea.
2. The others jump in to rescue him.
3. The yacht continues to sail beyond swimming distance, so all three drown. |
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| gncxx King-Size Canary
Great Old One Joined: 25 Aug 2001 Total posts: 13561 Location: Eh? Gender: Male |
| Posted: 22-04-2007 22:53 Post subject: |
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| It would be interesting to know if there was a ladder on the side of the boat. |
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| reversereverb Grey Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Total posts: 5 Location: Adelaide, Australia Gender: Male |
| Posted: 23-04-2007 11:48 Post subject: |
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They've found another off the coast of Australia:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21606996-2,00.html
| Quote: | ANOTHER unmanned vessel has been discovered floating off the coast of Queensland.
The 6m barnacle-encrusted fibreglass boat, which was yesterday spotted in waters off the Sunshine Coast, is the second mystery vessel to be found in Queensland waters in less than a week.
Fisherman spotted the second boat about 30km off the coast of Caloundra.
The boat was found upturned and adrift, with the keys still in the ignition and a tank full of fuel.
Fishing gear and scuba diving equipment were retrieved from the vessel and both outboard motors were still intact.
Police are now searching for the owners of the boat, which is registered in Noumea.
The boat is believed to have been adrift for several months, and authorities believe it may have simply broken free from its moorings.
The discovery comes just one day after authorities called off the search for three men missing from a yacht found unmanned and adrift last Wednesday about 160km off Townsville.
The three crew members - skipper Des Batten, 56, and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, aged 69 and 63, all from Perth - went missing some time after their 9.8-metre catamaran, KAZ II, left Shute Harbour at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays the previous weekend.
Authorities called off the search yesterday, but the trio's family members have refused to give up hope and spent today unsuccessfully searching Airlie Beach and its surrounding islands.
There is a range of theories about what happened to the men.
One is that they fell overboard in rough seas. Another is that another vessel came alongside and they boarded it, either willingly or unwillingly, as if they had been attacked by pirates.
Family members are hopeful the trio managed to swim to a nearby island and are awaiting rescue.
"That's our hope. That's where we're going to concentrate today," James Tunstead's son Shane Webber told ABC radio.
"Maybe they've all got knocked over by the boom, or something happened at the back of the boat when they were fishing because we know they were fishing at the time by video footage we've seen from the Townsville police.
"That's about the only theories we can come up with at the moment." |
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