The families of three men who disappeared from their yacht off Australia in mysterious circumstances have reluctantly called off a search for the missing sailors, acknowledging that they may never know what happened to them.
There has been no sign of the skipper, Derek Batten, and brothers Jim and Peter Tunstead since their catamaran, Kaz II, was found adrift in calm waters off the coast of Queensland on April 18.
Rescuers who came upon the boat were puzzled because everything appeared normal. The engine was ticking over in neutral, mobile phones, laptops, wallets and cameras were in the cabin and food and cutlery had been laid out for a meal.
A half-read Sunday newspaper was lying on the table.
The only sign that something had gone amiss was a ripped sail and fenders hanging over the side of the boat.
A massive air and sea search was launched, but the authorities scaled down the operation within days, saying there was no hope of finding the men alive.
The sons and daughters of the three sailors had until Tuesday to continue scouring the sea and the 74 Whitsunday islands nearby, hiring helicopters and boats, in a last attempt to find them.
Family spokesman Glenn Tunstead said the family felt a "sense of failure," but they had done everything they possibly could.
"We didn't achieve the outcome that we wanted. It's very, very tough for the family," he told ABC radio.
There has been speculation that the men jumped into the sea to try to pull the boat off a sandbank and were stranded when wind set the catamaran free.
More sinister theories are that they staged their disappearance and escaped by speedboat in an insurance scam, or that they could have been part of a drug ring, or attacked by pirates.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese