Catamaran crew still missing four months later
The families of the missing men are now appealing to anyone who can help find their loved ones.
There has been no further sighting of the upturned hull believed to be the catamaran that went missing with three South Africans on a delivery mission. This is according to a post by Nicole Payne on the Facebook page ‘Searching for Anthony, Reg & Jaryd’.
This comes after new information of a sighting of an upturned catamaran by a passing container ships off the coast of Mauritius was posted on the page on Monday.
Nicole Payne wrote on Thursday:
“They are continuing with their broadcasts to vessels to be on the lookout for the capsized hull and requests for assistance in diverting from their course.
MRCC has determined an area where the upturned hull may be drifting from now until early June. The centre of this area as per their calculation is 27deg 43,487’S and 063deg 37.553’E.
The status of our situation remains the same from the authorities’ point of view. This is still being classified as a salvage operation, and since hearing nothing concrete from the boat owners pertaining to a salvage, we find ourselves needing to arrange a possible salvage on our own. Time is of the essence.”
The missing Leopard 44 catamaran left Cape Town harbour on 14 December to be delivered to Phuket, Thailand by skipper, Anthony Murray (58), formerly from Cowies Hill, and two crew members, Reginald (Reg) Robertson (60) and Jaryd Payne (20). The last contact on the satellite phone with the catamaran was on 18 January.
Satellite crowd sourcing platform, Tomnod, pulled out earlier this month after assisting in the search.
The families of the missing men are now appealing for help with the following:
- Contacts with any shipping companies in order to increase awareness of passing vessels in the area of the upturned hull.
- Contacts of boat owners in Mauritius/Reunion that may be able to assist in any way, either physically going out to look and, if found, possibly towing the hull to port. If towing the hull to port is not a possibility, assistance in marking the hull with reflective tape for easier tracking, and determining whether there is life on board.
- Contacts of companies that could provide good quality satellite images of the area in which the hull may be drifting.
- Contacts of other salvage companies, estimated to cost R500 000 per day.
