Emergency services in Australia have launched a search for the
three-man crew of a yacht found drifting off the North Queensland
coast.
The vessel was found with its engine running, and a table laid for
dinner, but there were no signs of any people.
An air and sea rescue operation has been launched to retrace the
yacht's voyage, and pinpoint the search area.
The three-crew members are thought to have set sail for Townsville
from Airlie Beach on Sunday.
The 12m (40 foot) catamaran was spotted by a helicopter on
Wednesday, but a rescue team only reached the boat on Friday, and
confirmed that there was no one aboard.
Rescue crews say they are puzzled by the mysterious
disappearance.
"The engine was running, the computers were running, there was a
laptop set up on the table which was running, the radio was
working... and there was food and utensils set on the table ready
to eat," said Jon Hall, a spokesman for Queensland's Emergency
Management office.
"It was a bit strange," he added.
All the vessel's sails were up, although one was badly shredded,
and lifejackets were still on board.
Mr Hall said rescue workers had recovered the boat's global
position system (GPS) device, which might give them more clues as
to the crew's whereabouts.
"That will now enable us to track backwards where this yacht has
actually been in the last few days, and we're hoping that can
pinpoint the search area for the missing crew," he said.
Twelve aircraft are now searching for the crew of the boat which is
already being dubbed "the ghost yacht".
From BBC news 
Pictures are below(adapted from bbcnews)
