Police suspend search for crew of ‘ghost ship’

Police on Sunday suspended their search for the crew of a yacht found drifting off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with sails up, engine running and food on the table, saying there was little chance of finding the three men alive.

Police believe skipper Des Batten, 56, and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, aged 69 and 63, may have been swept off the Kaz II when it hit rough seas last Sunday.

“Unfortunately ... it’s supposedly almost a week since they’ve gone missing. (It’s) quite difficult to survive without adequate food or water,” rescue worker Phil Dowler told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Queensland police said in a statement its decision to suspend the air and sea search was “based on expert medical advice which suggests the men could not have survived this long in the water.”

The men sent no distress calls, and their plight was not known about until Wednesday when a coastal patrol plane spotted the catamaran drifting some 95 miles offshore.

Rescuers who boarded the vessel Friday said it appeared to have been abandoned suddenly. The lights and engines were running, and there was even food and cutlery laid out on the table — but no sign of the crew.

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The yacht’s headsail was shredded but there was no other sign of damage. An emergency beacon, three life jackets and a dinghy were found on board.

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Investigators who examined the catamaran’s global positioning system said it appeared to have been drifting with the wind and currents since last Sunday, when the men may have hit rough seas.

The men reportedly bought the boat in the northeastern town of Airlie Beach, and that they set sail from there last Sunday. The crew was planning to sail around northern Australia to Western Australia state. All were experienced sailors.