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Missing Reports | Missing | Update | Lost and | Found |
However, as there has been no communication from the yacht for a week, these are educated summations of what might have occurred.The race organisers are fully aware that the Maritime search and rescue authorities cannot search forever, and today (Tuesday) gathered a group of yachtsmen to strategise and come up with a battle plan for the continued search of the MOQUINI crew.Professional yachtsman Matthew Thomas, himself a competitor in the race aboard POLO SPORT GUMPTION, has agreed to head this challenging task, and within hours of meeting, the assistance and support of people throughout the country and around the world has been phenomenal.Air Charter companies have offered aeroplanes, fuel has been offered, and basically anyone who has expertise, knowledge or equipment needed have made very generous offers of assistance. Actions that have been taken include the following:
"It is at times like these when the chips are down that one is continually amazed at how responsive, generous and concerned mankind really is" said Matthew Thomas.
"We sincerely hope that this exercise will bring the results we, and the MOQUINI families, are waiting for" said Matthew Thomas. "But, we are searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack." Should the crew have taken to the life raft, it is estimated that they could have enough water to survive for more than twenty days - and that is assuming that they do not collect any rain water. While not comfortable, yachtsmen have survived for well over 100 days in a life raft. How and why MOQUINI's EPIRB was activated, and transmitted for such a short time, is a mystery to everyone, and is a question which cannot be answered at this point. MOQUINI is a modern yacht which was only launched earlier this year, and was equipped with all the most up-to-date safety and survival equipment required for a race of this nature. Her crew have everything they require to survive just about any situation thrown at them at sea.
The crew of six were:
The yacht was sailed to Durban to Mauritius by a crew of four, three of whom are on board for the race to Durban. They are Graham Cochrane; Kurt Ostendorf and Michael Goolam. Families of the missing crew have requested that they not be asked for interviews or comment by the media. "We respect this request, and trust that the media will respect their privacy and wishes too"; said Matthew Thomas. With the nerve centre of the rescue effort to find the crew of MOQUINI abuzz with activity, it is hoped that all the input of everyone concerned will be rewarded when the crew are reunited with their families. The account details for the rescue fund are as follows: Royal
Natal Yacht Club Moquini Fund For more information on the search for Moquini, visit www.mauritiustodurban.com.
Sadly, the search for the Missing yacht ‘Moquini’ with six crew members on board has officially been called off. This was announced in Durban this afternoon after the families of the missing crewmembers had met with search and rescue officials. “It has been an exceptionally difficult decision to make” said Dave Claxton, Chairman of the race organising committee. “It’s a decision that Matthew Thomas, Richard Crockett and I made in the cold light of day having rationally and unemotionally sifted through every single shred of information we had, and objectively analysed it. Plus, we have consulted experts far and wide to see if there is anything we may have missed, or any stone we have left unturned - with the answer always being that everything possible has been done up to this point.” The families have been understanding, and have requested that the following statement be issued on their behalf: “We, the families of the missing crew aboard MOQUINI have not given up hope of the crew being found, and would like to acknowledge the incredible and selfless effort the rescue team has put in to finding our husbands, sons, and brothers. We would like to express our appreciation to the media for their responsible and sympathetic reporting on this search and rescue mission, and to the public at large for the wonderfully generous support of the RNYC MOQUINI Rescue Fund, and for their care, sympathy and support. We have been astounded at the support from school children who have donated their lunch money, to the corporate giants of South Africa who have supported us. Words just cannot express our thanks and appreciation sufficiently. With all our hearts we thank you.” The six crew aboard ‘MOQUINI’ were: Graham
Cochrane Thanks
to Andrew at smoothsailing
for the update.
Just got back from MRCC (maritime administration of the sea search and rescue service) after a report of a Tanker spotting an upturned yacht floating approx. 500 NM off Port Shepstone, South Africa. The master of the tanker reported the yacht to be approx. 25 m long with a black hull. MRCC has dispatched the Smit Amandla to salvage the yacht. She is carrying police divers and should reach the area some time on Wednesday. At that point it is hoped that she will be able to find the yacht and will salvage it. We will then be able to determine her identity. The SA Air Force will fly over the general area and conduct an air search to see if they can find the yacht tomorrow and thus be able to give accurate drift patterns to the Smit Amandla. Unfortunately, only then will we be able to confirm the identity of the yacht. There is however, a chance that this might be Moquini. I will keep you posted. Thanks, Matthew Matthew L.
Thomas 02/08/06 Top
Found. The missing yacht MOQUINI is a sorry site as she wallows 500 nautical miles off the South African coast.Pic courtesy Patrick le Masson, the Master of the MT ALGARVE / MRCC The yacht MOQUINI which went missing with all her six (6) crew in September last year has been found floating upside down 500 nautical miles off the notorious South African Wild Coast. The upturned vessel was spotted on Sunday 5 February at 10h49 UTC in a position of 33 32 south and 38 21 east by Patrick le Masson the Master of the MT ALGARVE (Motor Tanker). This information was immediately transmitted to the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre) in Cape Town. The MRCC immediately requested that the MT Algarve stand by the vessel to establish a drift pattern. Despite tight deadlines the ship’s owners agreed and the MT ALGARVE stood by for 12 hours, relaying the drift pattern to the MRCC. The MRCC also sent an SAAF search and rescue aircraft out yesterday (Tuesday) to obtain a position, and have done the same today when they located the upturned vessel and directed the salvage tug to the casualty. There is also a fishing vessel in the area which has offered its assistance if needed. The MRCC immediately dispatched a salvage vessel, the Smit Amandla, to the area. The SMIT AMANDLA has divers aboard who were able to inspect the hull and positively identify it as the MOQUINI. MOQUINI is a sorry sight as it is completely inverted with the rudder and engine’s saildrive unit in their normal position - although the keel is completely missing. The big question is what happened? “We don’t know yet” said Matthew Thomas who headed the private search initiative when the vessel first went missing. “However, with the keel missing, the yacht would have immediately inverted 90 degrees, and within less than a minute would have completely inverted. There would have been little or no time for the crew to do anything. Anyone on deck would have been flung into the water. Anyone down below would have had little time to evacuate, and if they had been asleep in a bunk, may well have been badly injured in the initial inversion as they were flung sleeping from their bunk.” And in the very short time available between the keel coming off and the boat inverting, they may well not have had the time or ability to launch the liferaft. Plus, whether the crew were wearing lifejackets or not, it would have been almost impossible for them to stay close to the boat as there is nothing for them to hold on to on an upturned slippery hull. If conditions were relatively calm and the wind not blowing too hard, the yacht would also have had some hatches open, and these would immediately have caused the vessel to fill with water. It will take some investigation to determine whether MOQUINI hit anything, causing the keel to come off, or whether it was a catastrophic failure. At this point it is pure speculation as to when the incident occurred. If it happened when the single blip from the EPIRB was transmitted on Friday morning 16 September last year at approximately 03h40, it would have been dark, and difficult for anyone to locate the EPIRB in the cabin and set it off. However, knowing that the keel was off, may explain the single blip from the EPIRB, as an EPIRB will not transmit when more than half a metre below the water - and with the boat completely capsized it would have been under water. Further information will be released immediately as it is received from the salvors.The six crew aboard MOQUINI were: Graham
Cochrane Massive public support enabled a two week private air search to be conducted when MOQUINI was first reported missing. 02/09/06 Top
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