Ghost Taiwan Tuna Boat Crew Possible Victim Pirates ff
17 January 2003
Taiwan
Australian authorities have found no signs of foul play aboard a Taiwanese fishing boat found adrift and abandoned off western Australia, thousands of kilometres (miles) from its last reported position, officials said Tuesday. But in Taiwan, Mr. Lee Ah-duey of Liu Chiou District Fishing Association suggested pirates or a mutiny probably caused the mysterious disappearance of the crew. He added that the best clue was likely to be the calls made on Bali using the vessels chief engineer Lin Chung-lee's mobile phone.
The High Aim 6, with tonnes of rotting fish in its hold, was towed to a quarantine bay off the west Australian city of Broome Friday after the navy boarded the abandoned vessel spotted drifting in open seas.
Police officials said the ship was in good condition, the weather had been fine, and the crew's personal items, including seven toothbrushes, were still aboard.
Australian Federal Police coordinator of operations Bill Graham said officers spent two days conducting tests on the 20-metre (65-foot), 150-tonne vessel, but remained baffled by the crew's disappearance. “At this stage we have not located the crew or discovered any plausible reason for their absence,†Graham said.
“The ship itself gives us no evidence of foul play, but our prime concern at this stage is to identify crew members and locate them to determine if they are safe or missing.â€
The vessel, found flying an Indonesian flag, left Taiwan October 30. The last known contact with it was December 13 when the boat's owners said it was in the Marshall Islands, halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii in the Pacific.
The owners then reported the vessel missing when attempts to make further contact failed. The US Coast Guard searched for the vessel but failed to find it, officials said.
When found by the Australian navy, there were signs a life-raft had been launched from the ship, but an air and sea search covering some 7,300 square nautical miles found no sign of lifeboats or crew. The crew was believed to comprise a Taiwanese captain and an engineer, and an unknown number of Indonesian fishermen, the Australian Associated Press reported.
Investigators could not say if the ship had been hijacked or if it had been steered towards Australia by the vessel's autopilot or a second crew. “We're keeping an open mind, â€Graham said. “There are a number of options that may have led to the abandoning of the ship, including natural events.†The well-equipped vessel had plenty of fuel and a freezer, but its three-tonne catch of mostly tuna had rotted because the engines had stopped and the batteries had run flat.
