Durban - A Mauritian company has been hired to help find the yacht on which three South Africans went missing in January.
Sunsail, who hired the men to deliver the yacht from Cape Town to Phuket, Thailand, said the vessel, Comarco Swift, would leave Mauritius on Sunday to begin the search, weather permitting.
It will go to an area identified by the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Cape Town as the most likely location of the catamaran.
The hull of a catamaran, believed to be the Sunsail RC044-978, was spotted 600 nautical miles off Port Louis, Mauritius by a passing vessel in May.
When the vessel disappeared Anthony Murray, Reginald “Reg” Robertson and Jaryd Payne were on board.
The company said on its website that the team on the Comarco Swift would include a dive team of three headed by an experienced search party captain.
The voyage to the area was expected to take two to three days.
“We have in principle agreed with the legal representatives of the families of the crew that an independent observer, jointly appointed by Sunsail and the families, will accompany the Comarco Swift to the area where the upturned hull was last seen. The observer has substantial experience in sailing and boat building,” the company said.
If the yacht was located, and nothing was found on board, it would be sunk, the company said.
The company also cautioned that because of the present weather conditions, there was no guarantee the catamaran would be found.
The company concluded: “It remains a priority for Sunsail to find out what happened to the missing boat and its crew.”
Daily News