SA yacht goes missing

2012-04-16 08:50

Johannesburg - A South African yacht has gone missing in the Indian Ocean near northern Mozambique.

Beeld reports that there are seven people on board the Dandelion. Two of them are South Africans, including skipper John Sergel, who is from Durban.

A plane from the EU's anti-piracy force in Djibouti started searching for the yacht on Sunday, while other boats and ships have been asked to be on the lookout for the yacht, which is feared to have been taken by pirates.

Yacht owner Roger Hartley said the yacht had been on a pleasure cruise and people from America, Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands had been on board.

The yacht left from the island of Mayotte at 15:00 on Tuesday and has not been heard of since.

The yacht was supposed to have reached Pemba in northern Mozambique on Friday but never arrived. No word or message was received from anyone on the yacht.

Authorities from the different countries representing the passengers have become involved in the search for the Dandelion.

The yacht is fitted with several communication systems, none of which have been used to report on the yacht’s location.

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