A GHOST ship found drifting off Australia's north-west
coast more than a year ago is to be sunk as an artificial reef.
While the fate of the vessel is now known, the mystery behind what happened
to the 12 officers and crew who disappeared from the High Aim 6 remains
unanswered.
The Taiwanese-owned fishing vessel was spotted drifting in the Indian Ocean
off Broome on January 4 last year.
Navy officers who boarded the vessel five days later found tonnes of rotting
fish, food, fuel and the personal effects of the crew – but none of the seamen
who should have been on board.
The High Aim 6 was towed to Broome – where she has sat on the mudflats since
– while Australian authorities conducted an investigation into the disappearance
of the two Taiwanese officers and 10 Indonesian crew.
However, despite the efforts of the Australian Federal Police and the
Australian Fisheries Management Authority, no explanation has been uncovered for
what happened on the high seas.
AFMA's acting manager director Peter Witheridge said there had been an
extensive aerial search for the crew after the vessel was intercepted by
HMAS Stuart.
"While moored at Broome, subsequent forensic examination of the vessel was
conducted," he said.
"Police investigations did not reveal any breaches of Australian law."
Pirates or mutiny are among the possibilities of what befell the ship's crew
who left Taiwan on October 31, 2002, and was known to have spent about six weeks
fishing in Indonesian waters.
The owners of the vessel have said they don't want it back because it would
be uneconomic to restore it to seagoing condition.
Mr Witheridge said an agreement had been reached with the Broome Fishing Club
to sink the vessel about three nautical miles offshore in more than 40m of
water.
A date has not yet been set for the vessel to go to its watery grave.
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