Hong Kong yacht missing on South China Sea delivery

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 7 Oct 2015 A Hong Kong registered 18.2m sailing yacht Europa, Beneteau Oceanis 60, owned by yacht broker and experienced offshore sailor Robin Wyatt, left Hong Kong for Subic Bay at 1020h on Thursday 1 October 2015 with an ETA at Subic Bay no later than 5 October 2015.

The passage plan was to head for the north of the Philippines – possibly Vigan – in order to avoid Tropical Storm Kabayan (international name Mujigae) and then sail down the coast to Subic.

A friend who met the crew at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on Wednesday night asked if they thought TS Kabayan (Mujigae) to the east of the Philippines might be a problem – Wyatt believed it would fizzle out or disappear north to Taiwan. In fact, the storm skipped across the Philippines, intensified at sea into Typhoon Mujigae, and headed towards the China coast in the vicinity of Hainan – straight across the path of the yacht.

The last known position of the yacht derives from a satphone call at 1100h Friday 2 October, approximately 210nm from Hong Kong.

On Saturday 3 October the boat’s EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) was activated at 2023hrs UTC.

According to standard emergency procedures, this is normally the last act of a crew before abandoning ship and taking to a life raft. The EPIRB was very new and had only been registered on 30 September, so it is possible that the information was not ‘in the system’ and the signal could not therefore be linked to a specific vessel. EPIRB false alarms are not uncommon, and rescue services need a positive identification before initiating a search.

Hong Kong’s MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) subsequently dispatched a fixed wing aircraft to search the area. Vessels in the vicinity of the EPIRB’s position were also asked to be on the lookout. No yacht, life raft or debris was detected and HKMRCC continued to monitor the signal.

With the yacht’s ETA in the Philippines subsequently overdue, two fixed wing aircraft (one from Hong Kong and one private plane from the Philippines) were dispatched on the morning of Tuesday 6 October in a coordinated search effort. Ships in the area were also put on alert.

The boat is new, and had recently been delivered to Hong Kong and commissioned before setting off for the Philippines where Robin Wyatt is a resident. On board are the skipper Robin Wyatt (GBR), Brian Turner (GBR), Rudulph Bollozos (PHI), Alan Lundy (USA) and Harry Taylor (CAN), all of whom are very experienced seamen, each having crossed the South China Sea a number of times.

Coordination is taking place between HKMRCC,Hong Kong Government Flying Service, Philippines Navy, Philippines Coast Guard, Philippines Coast Guard Auxiliary, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and friends of the sailors in Hong Kong and the Philippines. As the Philippines Coast Guard has no operational air or sea assets in the area, three private yachts are setting out from the Philippines to assist with the search.

Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre said the search had been temporarily halted on Tuesday evening, noting that “we have three merchant ships, one fishing boat, one aircraft from Hong Kong maritime rescue and one private plane from the Philippines involved in the search.”

Reports of the sighting of a floating body, a lifejacket and oily debris in the area where the EPIRB was activated are unconfirmed. More than 200 Filipino fishermen were reported missing in Mujigae’s aftermath and, sadly, many are still unaccounted for.

The search continued on Wednesday 7 October for signs of the missing sailing yacht Europa and its five crew members, yielding no sightings. The search continues, however Hong Kong’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre has confirmed that the yacht’s EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) has now stopped transmitting.