Search for sailboat crew underway
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA — Forensic police today began examining a catamaran found drifting off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with its sails up, engine running and food on the table -- but with no one aboard.
Its three crewmen were last seen Sunday leaving the northeastern town of Airlie Beach. A patrol plane spotted the 40-foot catamaran drifting Wednesday, its headsail battered and torn, about 90 miles offshore.
When rescue crews boarded the vessel, the Kaz II, early Friday, they found it deserted. No distress call had been sent.
Police launched a massive sea and air rescue effort Friday. The search resumed at first light today, with two helicopters, two volunteer rescue boats, and water police scouring a stretch of ocean from the town of Bowen south to Airlie Beach, where officials believe the men may have fallen overboard.
Marine authorities towed the Kaz II back to shore overnight, and forensic inspectors began examining the vessel’s global positioning system and laptops.
Media reports said the missing men are skipper Derek Batten, 56, and two of his neighbors -- brothers Peter and James Tunstead, ages 69 and 63, from Perth, Western Australia state’s capital. Police would not confirm their identities.
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