Interesting read:<br /><br /> http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8381367^953,00.html <br /><br />___<br /><br />Ghost ship will take secrets to its grave<br />Vivienne Oakley<br />14jan04<br />A GHOST ship found drifting off Australia's north-west coast more than a year ago is to be sunk as an artificial reef.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />The Taiwanese-owned fishing vessel was spotted drifting in the Indian Ocean off Broome on January 4 last year. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />"While moored at Broome, subsequent forensic examination of the vessel was conducted," he said. <br /><br />"Police investigations did not reveal any breaches of Australian law." <br /><br />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. <br /><br />The owners of the vessel have said they don't want it back because it would be uneconomic to restore it to seagoing condition. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />A date has not yet been set for the vessel to go to its watery grave.
