yacht that disappeared off sydney harbour

The Schooner Patanela which disappeared off the Sydney coast.

The final voyage of the Patanela, the Aussie boat that vanished without a trace

Pedestrian TV . By Josephine Rozenberg-Clarke .

Exactly 30 years ago today, on October 16 1988, a 19-metre schooner called the Patanela set off on a month-long voyage from Fremantle, WA‘s busy port city, with an end destination of Airlie Beach, part of QLD‘s Whitsundays region. But the boat would never arrive, making it an unsolved mystery still baffling people to this day.

In the latest episode of PEDESTRIAN.TV‘s unsolved mystery podcast  All Aussie Mystery Hour , we look at the Patanela ‘s mysterious final voyage.

The yacht was owned by wealthy businessman Alan Nicol, and the captain was a bloke named Ken Jones, who manned the ship alongside his wife Noreen and their daughter Ronnalee. They were joined by two crew members named Michael Calvin and John Blisset.

Alan alighted at Esperance because he had work commitments and Ronnalee got off the boat at Port Eyre. The boat and Ken, Noreen, Michael and John continued on, seemingly with no issues. Until around 1am on November 8, when Ken, apparently located off Port Botany in Sydney, radioed in to Sydney Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) operator Keith McLennan the following message:

I believe we’ve run out of fuel…we’ve hoisted our sails and we’re tacking out to the east, tracking about zero-eight-zero…our intention is to tack out for a couple of hours, then tack back in. We may need some assistance in the morning to get back into Sydney Harbour.

Keith said than Ken didn’t sound distressed, and the call itself was fairly routine. The weather was overcast yet calm, and the Patanela was more than capable of navigating those kind of conditions.

There was a second call asking for directions to the south coast town of Moruya which was slightly odd as it was in the opposite direction to where they were headed. And in the third call, received at 2am, things got a bit weird. The line was all static, and Ken could be heard saying: “Three hundred kilometres south? Is it? South…”

There was no further communication from the Patanela and the yacht never made it to Airlie Beach. No trace of the boat or the crew has ever been seen again — aside from a buoy marked “Patanela, Fremantle” plucked from the waters off Terrigal, on NSW’s Central Coast, the following year.

There was also a message in a bottle found in 2007, almost 20 years after the boat disappeared. But for all those mysterious details, you’ll just have to listen to the episode. Subscribe on iTunes HERE , or on Spotify HERE . Or, you can just listen / download below.

Listen to the podcast at Pedestrian TV .

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Today I Discovered The Patanela Mystery – An Aussie Boat That Disappeared Into Thin Air

While the tale of the Mary Celeste is one of the most enduring stories of missing ship crews, the Patanela is Australia’s very own maritime mystery. This ship vanished without a trace while approaching Sydney Harbour in calm seas in November 1988, leaving behind only a barnacle-encrusted lifebuoy and a message in a bottle.

The Patanela was a 19-metre steel schooner that was known to be incredibly sturdy – having undertaken a number of Antarctic voyages and global circumnavigations under difficult conditions. Michael Calvin was one of the crewmen aboard the yacht, and the last communication from the vessel came in the form of a letter posted by Calvin at Port Lincoln, sent to his twin sister.

The ship was headed up the coast on its way to Airlie beach, where Calvin and his friend John Blisset had been promised use of the Patanela for a charter business. Just a few weeks later, however, the boat simply disappeared in waters off Sydney. No mayday call was received and no distress flares were sighted, no debris nor bodies turned up on Sydney’s shores – it simply vanished without a trace.

Almost 20 years after the ship’s disappearance, on New Years Eve 2007, a couple on a beach at Eucla, near the border between WA and SA, found a hand-written message in a bottle. Dated just a week or two before the disappearance, the note read:

Hi there. Out here in the lonely Southern Ocean and thought we would give away a free holiday in the Whitsunday Islands in north Queensland, Australia. Our ship is travelling from Fremantle, Western Aust, to Queensland to work as a charter vessel.

The only other trace of the Patanela that has otherwise been found was a barnacle-encrusted lifebuoy that was discovered floating off Terrigal almost seven months after the disappearance. Over the years there have been numerous rumoured sightings, leading to theories of hijacking and foul play, but nothing was ever confirmed about the fate of the Patanela and her crew.

Today I Discovered is a daily dose of wisdom for Lifehacker readers – the weird, wonderful and sometimes worrying. Most of the time, it’s just mind-blowing. Let us know if you discovered anything that blew your mind in the comments!

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One response to “Today I Discovered The Patanela Mystery – An Aussie Boat That Disappeared Into Thin Air”

Mary Celeste wasn’t a missing ship.

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Ghost Ship: What happened to the Patanela?

The ship was the Patanela, a twin-masted, steel-hulled schooner on its way to North Queensland with four people on board. Not a trace of them has ever been found.

Under Investigation gathered a panel of some of this country's greatest maritime experts - retired Submarine Commander John Dikkenberg, world renowned yachtswoman and lawyer Adrienne Cahalan, author and investigator Robert Reid who spent years investigating the Patanela and former Victorian Search and Rescue commander Ian Veitch who has conducted dozens of searches at sea.

A coronial inquest determined the Patanela was the victim of a hit and run collision, probably with a  much larger tanker and was forced to the bottom of the sea with all hands on board.

It's a finding UI's panel of experts doubt with alternate theories being debated including hijack, a murder-suicide or a different accident scenario which saw the crew in a life boat in worsening conditions who eventually drowned at sea.

And to add to the mystery a retired police officer broke a 30 year silence to detail the sighting of a ship he is certain was the Patanela.

WATCH THE FULL INVESTIGATION ON 9NOW HERE

Built to last

The Patanela was hand built in the mid 1950's in Tasmania, the first steel-hulled ship of its kind constructed there and one of the rarest vessels in the country.

It had a spectacular career ferrying scientific teams to the Antarctic, operating as a crayfishing vessel in some of the toughest and roughest seas, before being bought by a wealthy West Australian businessman who planned to use the boat as a tourist charter in North Queensland.

The vessel was equipped with the latest technology, colour radar and anti collision and completely refitted for its voyage from Fremantle to Airlie Beach.

"It was about as unsinkable as you could get with a steel vessel," Robert Reid told Ui.

"It was a robust, steel, 75-foot schooner and had proved to be a well-founded, seagoing large yacht," Submariner John Dikkenberg noted.

The delivery captain was Ken Jones who was joined by his wife Noreen for the trip. Two young deckhands from country New South Wales, John Blissett and Michael Calvin also signed on.

It was meant to be a routine journey but ended in doom and mystery.

On October 16, 1988 the Patanela set out from Fremantle bound for Queensland.

On board the four crew who were joined by Alan Nicol the owner and the skipper's daughter Ronnalee Jones. They would stay for part of the journey.

For most of the early part of the trip there was no indication anything was wrong.

Halfway across the Great Australian Bight the two young crew members penned a letter in a bottle inviting whoever found their message to join them for a holiday in Queensland. All seemed happy, ship shape.

"Out here in the lonely Southern Ocean and thought we would give away a free holiday in the Whitsunday Islands in north Queensland".  The note read signed by John Blissett.

But about the same time skipper Ken Jones received a distressing call from his son in Perth. Jones' yacht The Fremantle Doctor had been repossessed and his business was facing massive financial problems.

This was the first hint of any trouble on this trip and immediately raised red flags for UI's panel of experts.

John Dikkenberg, alert to the moods of crew in submarines, noted:

"My entire reading of Ken Jones was that at the very least, he was under a lot of pressure."

Dikkenberg also noted Jones, an experienced deep water sailor and yachtsman, had spent vast amounts of time motoring during his voyage, not using the schooner's sails.

He wondered if Jones' financial pressures have caused more emotional distress than anyone knew and eventually led to a break down and murder suicide on board.

"And this would explain to me why a really well-founded mariner, someone with thousands of sea miles, a good mariner in every respect, just went to sea in a very depressed state," he said.

As the Patanela approached Portland in Victoria only Ken Jones, his wife and the two crewmen were on board. Owner Alan Nicol had disembarked in Esperance, Ronnalee Jones in Port Lincoln, South Australia.

Then strangely upon arrival Jones rang the boat's owner requesting $500 for fuel which bizarrely he didn't purchase.

This raised concerns with UI's panel.

"That seems a bit strange that if he's motoring across the Great Australian Bight, if he's asked for money, it means that he wants the fuel. But it just adds to the mystery of why he didn't and he requested the money and been given the money," former Search and Rescue boss Ian Veitch told UI.

The Patanela, re-stocked with some supplies but no extra fuel continued on its voyage.

On November 7th the ship was seen motoring past a lighthouse in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney.

And in the early hours of the morning of November 8th the Patanela arrived off the coast of Botany Bay.

But there was a problem.

Radio Calls

At two and a half minutes to one, OTC (Overseas Telecommunication Commission), which managed all messages and radio calls from ships, received a message from skipper Ken Jones.

Recorded tapes reveal these messages:

KEN JONES: SYDNEY RADIO - SYDNEY RADIO SYDNEY RADIO THIS IS PATANELA PATANELA PATANELA  ON CHANNEL 16 DO YOU READ?

OTC: PATANELA, SYDNEY GOOD MORNING LOUD AND CLEAR OVER.

KEN JONES: PATANELA - I BELIEVE  WE'VE RUN OUT OF FUEL, WE'RE APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES EAST OF BOTANY BAY.

KEN JONES: WE'VE HOISTED OUR SAILS AND WE'RE TACKING OUT TO THE EAST - SO TRACKING ABOUT 080

Running out of fuel - having motored for the majority of the voyage - stunned the panel of experts, but also the words where Ken Jones claimed he "thought" he'd run out of fuel perplexed them.

"I would've thought that if you're going to run out of fuel, you keep sailing and you save whatever fuel you've got," John Dikkenberg told the panel.

"if he's running out of fuel, you would sail and save that fuel for when you did need it. And to say I think I've run out of fuel, you think he'd be experienced enough to know whether he has run out of fuel or not, " Ian Veitch added.

Veteran yachtswoman Adrienne Cahalan believed Jones may just have been distracted.

"So that he mightn't have been on his game and then not taking on the fuel. It might have been a risk that he took that he might have thought, "Oh well I'll get it in Eden." And then he got to Eden thought, "Oh no, I'll make it to Sydney, it'll be okay." And that gamble didn't pay off, "she said.

In that same message to OTC, Ken Jones also indicated he might need assistance entering Sydney Harbour the next morning - another call which intrigued our panel.

But if this first message was unusual, a second an hour later totally baffled UI's panel of experts.

KEN JONES: How far South is Moruya ?

We're unfamiliar with that position.

How far South is it in miles  from us ?

"I have no explanation. I have no idea why you would make that first call to say I'm east of Botany Bay and then asking for directions to Moruya. He'd know where he is," John Dikkenberg said.

"That is very strange, that is probably the strangest thing of everything," Adrienne Cahalan added.

A third short message then static .

KEN: 300 KS SOUTH……IS IT SOUTH? …. STATIC

Then silence and the Patanela is never heard from again.

The unusual nature of the OTC radio calls led author and investigator Robert Reid to believe foul play was involved.

Reid, who investigated the disappearance for years, maintains to this day the Patanela was hijacked by a third party who boarded the vessel, or by the two young crewmen on board.

Coincidentally, John Blissett and Michael Calvin had worked on the Australian movie "Dead Calm" , a chilling story of a yacht  being hijacked.

Robert Reid believed there were too many coincidences.

"When you look at the so-called coincidence that they'd been talking about that. Then Calvin turns up in Fremantle and talks his way onto the Patanela. Then Blisset turns up, two old mates, and he gets on board as well. So they turn up on Patanela and she goes missing."

John Blissett's mother Marj refuted that theory out of hand.

"They wouldn't. They were not like that. They knew what was right and what was wrong in life. This was not something they would do," she said.

And there was nothing in their actions leading up to the disappearance which indicated the boys intended piracy and hijack. Their carefree message in a bottle seems to show they were having a good time.

Sudden sink

A Coroner ruled the Patanela was the victim of a sudden sinking after a massive collision with another vessel, most likely a much larger tanker.

Dozens of ships were investigated, but only one, a 43,000 tonne bulk carrier, the Howard Smith, was anywhere near the Patanela at the time.

Howard Smith crew members  told Federal Police they did not see the smaller vessel on radar nor heard a collision and there was no sign of any impact with another ship.

What mystified UI's panel of experts was the complete lack of any debris.

"With any search, you usually find some debris, something to indicate either an accident or something that's floated from the vessel when it sank. In this, there's just nothing," Ian Veitch noted.

Nothing was found until almost six months later when a life buoy, clearly marked as Patanela's was located off the coast of Terrigal north of Sydney.

Adrienne Cahalan, using weather and tidal data from that time, concluded any debris would have been washed out to sea. And with a search not being instigated for 11 days after the disappearance the likelihood of finding anything else was remote.

Australia's Ghost Ship, the Patanela was sighted dozens of times after that ill-fated night.

All were investigated and only one seemed credible.

Retired New South Wales police officer Ted McCarthy and his wife saw a vacht matching the Patanela in March 1989, months after the disappearance.

Armed with a magazine article with a picture of the Patanela, McCarthy compared the picture with the boat using his binoculars.

He remained convinced he was witnessing the missing schooner.

" I identified a number of points, things like it had square portholes, which was a bit unusual. It was blue, the colour was all exactly the same, the rigging was the same. The wheelhouse down the back of the boat was as, per the picture. And up the front on the bowsprit area, there was plaited rope which was quite noticeable and quite obvious, and it was on the Patanela," Ted McCarthy detailed to UI.

He radioed the vessel asking for identification and whoever was onboard denied the ship was the Patanela.

If it was, it hoisted anchor later that evening and disappeared for all time.

Conclusions

At least three of UI's panel of experts are convinced human intervention was behind the disappearance of the Patanela - whether hijack by persons unknown, by the crew members or the captain himself.

But Adrienne Cahalan holds a completely different view - that the ship was involved in an accident at sea and the crew were claimed in a lifeboat in worsening ocean conditions.

Regardless of their differences they all agree the Patanela mystery, Australia's most famous Ghost Ship, may never be solved.

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Ghostly 'Message in Bottle' from Vanished Schooner

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• The Inventory

Missing Yacht's Mysterious Last Words Still Puzzle Investigators 35 Years Later

The patanela was a 75-foot-long bright yellow yacht that somehow went missing in 1988..

In 1988 a famous sailing yacht went missing, leaving behind a strange final message, a mangled investigation and questions of suicide, piracy, mutiny and drug trafficking. I’ve long been fascinated by ship wrecks and disappearances and this one is one of my favorites, not only because it’s such a mysterious story, but because the ship itself was so beautiful.

The Patanela was a 75-foot-long, twin-masted, steel-hulled schooner built in Tasmania, according to Nine News . It lived an eventful life, traveling around the world as an explorer’s vessel and making headlines wherever it went. Eventually the schooner would be purchased by a businessman named in Perth named Alan Nicol, who had the intention of turning it into a charter vessel. First, Nicol, his daughter, his Skipper Ken Jones, Jones’ wife, and two crew members would take the Patanela around the southern coast of Australia to its new home at Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland.

On October 16, 1988 the Patanela set out from Freemantle, Western Australia on a month-long voyage with six souls aboard. By October 29, however, Nicol and his daughter left the boat, and the crew of four continued on to Sydney where they’d meet back up with Nicol and continue on to Airlie Beach.

From here, things get weird. Jones was an experienced sailor, yet spent the majority of the voyage using the diesel engines to motor along the Australian coast. First, it seems Jones was behaving erratically. He requested funds from Nicol for fuel, and then didn’t buy any fuel. On November 9, the ship arrived off the coast of Botany Bay. And that’s when the voyage takes a strange turn for the worse, according to Nine:

At two and a half minutes to one, OTC (Overseas Telecommunication Commission), which managed all messages and radio calls from ships, received a message from skipper Ken Jones. Recorded tapes reveal these messages: KEN JONES: SYDNEY RADIO - SYDNEY RADIO SYDNEY RADIO THIS IS PATANELA PATANELA PATANELA ON CHANNEL 16 DO YOU READ? OTC: PATANELA, SYDNEY GOOD MORNING LOUD AND CLEAR OVER. KEN JONES: PATANELA - I BELIEVE WE’VE RUN OUT OF FUEL, WE’RE APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES EAST OF BOTANY BAY. KEN JONES: WE’VE HOISTED OUR SAILS AND WE’RE TACKING OUT TO THE EAST - SO TRACKING ABOUT 080

As experts involved in a reinvestigation of the ship’s appearance point out, this is a very strange message, especially from an experienced seaman like Jones. For one, he wouldn’t say “I believe we’ve run out of fuel,” as he’d very much know what the indicators for that situation would be. And if he was so low on fuel, why were his sails hoisted? The next message is even stranger:

KEN JONES: How far South is Moruya ? We’re unfamiliar with that position. How far South is it in miles from us ? “I have no explanation. I have no idea why you would make that first call to say I’m east of Botany Bay and then asking for directions to Moruya. He’d know where he is,” John Dikkenberg said. “That is very strange, that is probably the strangest thing of everything,” Adrienne Cahalan added. A third short message then static . KEN: 300 KS SOUTH……IS IT SOUTH? …. STATIC

The ship is never heard from again. Nicol reports the Patanela missing 11 days later. A lackluster investigation revealed nothing, which almost seems as to have been by design. Eventually, investigators come up with the idea that the Patanela was hit by a larger cargo vessel and sank – without any of the ships in the harbor showing damage, without any wreckage of the yacht, without the automatic distress beacon being tripped, and despite the latest sonar equipment onboard with an experienced sailor at the helm keeping them far from danger.

There’s also the problem of the sightings: the Patanela was easily identifiable with its brilliant yellow hull, and it was spotted several times up and down the coast of Australia and even in the waters off of Thailand and Southeast Asia.

And then there’s the life buoy, which turned up six months later in Sydney with the letters Patanela written across it and marine life that seemed to indicate it came from the Coral Sea – about a thousand miles or more north from Sydney and the last known location of the Patanela.

There are a lot of possible theories on what happened to the Patanela, and every journalist or armchair investigator out there has their favorite. During the first leg of the journey, Jones was in an emotional state due to his own yacht being seized and his personal company was in distress. The fact that such an experienced sailor spent most of the journey under motor could indicate his state of mind. Nicol also suspected the previous owner of trying to reclaim the Patanela after he complained about being swindled in the deal to sell it to Nicol.

But it doesn’t explain the strange broadcast. Jones’ son told reporters that he believed it was a coded cry for help. It just so happens that the two young crew members aboard – John Blissett and Michael Calvin – had just finished work on the Australian film “Dead Calm,” which is a thriller about a yacht being hijacked.

Did life imitate art? Or did the danger Jones tried to warn the OTC of come in the form of more professional hijackers? After the ship’s disappearance, Nicol spent $30,000 of his own funds to investigate every sighting of the Patanela. The big yellow ship was a rare make and style, easily spotted from shore by even landlubbers. When seen the was Patanela always at a distance in open waters and rarely came to shore; when it did come to shore it was always spotted in way out of the way areas. These are signs, Nicol believed, that indicate the Patanela was being used for drug smuggling. And worse yet, certain members of the police may have been in on the caper, as the YouTube channel Barely Sociable explains:

Once Nicol reported the ship missing a search was refused on the basis that, after 11 days, the search area would be an impossible 200,000-square-kilometer area. Then a federal detective working with a judicial coroner declared the Patanela had been hit and sank that same day, just ten miles off the coast of Botany Bay, but no search was ever done to track down the wreck.

As Nicol noted in his investigation, police are often paid off by drug smugglers, and indeed, the coroner assigned to the case made previous questionable judgements in cases involving potential drug smuggling activities. Sightings of the Patanela near the Golden Triangle of heroin production in Southeast Asia could also point to the Patanela being hijacked and pressed into drug smuggling. If that’s the case the Patanela has long ago been modified and registered under a different name and flag by crooked politicians on the other side of the sea.

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What were they doing? Where were the life jackets? And why was acclaimed art dealer's body found naked except for his socks? Unanswered questions in boat tragedy that has shocked celebrity circles

• Mystery over why two men died off Sydney beaches 
• Body of art guru found, tech expert still missing
•  Queries over why they went out in 'dangerous' surf 

By Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 03:32 EDT, 24 July 2023 | Updated: 22:38 EDT, 24 July 2023

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The ill-fated boat trip off Sydney Harbour which led to the death of a high-profile art expert and presumed death of a tech guru has raised several questions that remain unanswered. 

No explanation is at hand for why Andrew Findlay, 51, and Indigenous art dealer Tim Klingender, 59 , went out fishing in dangerous seas at 7.30am last Thursday when a southerly swell was smashing the shores of the Eastern Suburbs.

The 7.85-metre Brig Eagle inflatable fishing boat they set out in was hit by 5m waves and smashed into rocks at The Gap in Watsons Bay about 10am. 

Mr Klingender's naked body - clad only in socks - was found among debris scattered among the rocks below Jacobs Ladder at South Head.

Lingering dangerous conditions through the weekend prevented police from recovering evidence from the vessel, and tragically the search for Mr Findlay was scaled back.

Questions linger about why art supremo Tim Klingender (above, with his wife Skye McCardle)) and his friend went out in rough seas without life jackets and smashed into rocks leaving the Indigenous expert's naked body to be found and Andrew Findlay still missing

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Findlay, 51, is still missing after the fateful trip on a rough surf day out in a fishing boat which ended up capsizing on the rocks off Watsons Bay

Mr Klingender is the father of two children with wife Skye McCardle Klingender, while Mr Findlay has three children with his former partner Lizzie Kemp, who was once married to cricket legend Brett Lee.

Mr Findlay socialised in celebrity circles in Sydney's eastern suburbs and is close friends with model and Home and Away star Erika Heynatz and her husband Andrew Kingston, artist Daimon Downey and husband and wife musicians Angus McDonald and Connie Mitchel.

The friends are said to be 'rocked to the core' by Mr Findlay's disappearance and presumed death.

Comedian Magda Szubanksi led the tributes for Mr Klingender  - who is credited with helping propel artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Rover Thomas to international star status - by saying she 'greatly admired his incredible work promoting Indigenous art'. 

Mr Klingender's wife, Skye McCardle, is believed to have been travelling in Nepal and was due back home around the time that tragedy struck.

These are the major questions that need to be answered leading up to an eventual NSW Coroner's inquest into the fatal accident:

Tim Klingender (above with Wik artists from Aurukun last December in Sydney) is credited with helping propel Indigenous artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Rover Thomas to international star status

Why did they go out?

Police would later describe the waters off Bondi and Watsons Bay on Thursday morning as 'violent sea conditions'. The July water temperature was too cold for anyone who went overboard to survive more than a day.

So why did the pair take such a risk to go out in such high saves when warnings and cautions were issued for surfers and boaties alike?  

Police search the waters off Watsons Bay late last week after the boating accident in high seas on Thursday ended in the probable demise of Tim Klingender and Andrew Findlay

How did the accident happen?

The men's 7.8-metre inflatable vessel, which weighs over a tonne, was said to be travelling too close to the Watsons Bay cliff face. 

Their trip began about 7.30am, heading from Bondi towards Watsons Bay when they began encountering large waves lashing the cliffs.

It's understood the men were too close to the cliffs for the conditions in which they were trolling, a fishing method that involves trailing lines behind the vessel. 

Superintendent Joe McNulty of Marine Area Command said waves up to five metres high pushed the vessel into the rocks.

Tech entrepreneur, Andrew Findlay, above on Sydney Harbour wearing a life jacket, inexplicably did not have one on when he went out fishing with his mate, art dealer Time Klingender last Thursday

'It appears they've … been swept by a large wave that possibly capsized the vessel and [has] thrown both men into the ocean,' Supt. McNulty said. 

'It was violent sea conditions and a violent accident that occurred.'

Rescuers believe the boat struck a treacherous hidden underwater rock ledge as it was pounded by the huge surf.

In the aftermath, the boat remained tightly lodged against the rocks under the cliffs at South Head.

Why didn't they wear life jackets?

Neither man was wearing a life jacket, and it is uncertain why as their fishing rods were launched from the rear while the boat kept travelling ahead.

Both men appear to have been thrown into the ocean by the vessel capsizing, and life jackets could have helped them remain buoyant in the treacherous conditions after their boat was upturned.

What stripped Mr Klingender of his clothes and swept away Mr Findlay's body?

Dangerous ocean rips closed Eastern Suburbs beaches last Thursday, meaning that once both men were in the water they were at the mercy of the conditions.

Both or either man could have been injured in the boat's capsize leaving them to be tossed around in violent seas. 

Their boat was found overturned and broken up at the base of The Gap in Watsons Bay.

The men's 7.8m boat was found wedged into the rocks below The Gap at Watsons Bay, and Tim Klingender's body was found in the debris, but there was no sign of Andrew Findlay

Why did they call off the search?

Marine command wrapped up the search on Saturday, a day after 'the timeframe for survival, taking into account the temperatures of the water in July ... lapsed'.

Once they had been tipped into the roiling seas, both men would have been tossed around in conditions that saw surfers warned it was  'definitely not a day for anyone other than fit and experienced riders. Solid south swell smashing the magnets this morning.'

Caves and cliff faces around the area were searched with a PolAir helicopter  hovering above the coast attempting to locate more of the boat and Mr Findlay.

Supt McNulty said the operation had spanned more than 20km on Saturday, from South Head to Cape Solander near Botany Bay. 

Marine command police will still look for tech entrepreneur Andrew Findlay's body, but called off teh large-scale search after three days because by then he was presumed to be dead

Will Andrew Findlay ever be found?

The discovery of Tim Klingender's remains have rocked the Australian art world and, as art dealer Michael Reid said, caused 'unimaginable and devastating loss to his family'. 

But however terrible their irreplaceable loss, the torment for Andrew Findlay's loved ones will be even more acute, with many in such situations saying they would rather know conclusively how it ended rather than be left wondering.

Supt McNulty said at the weekend after a large-scale three-day water and air search, 'We'll continue to search, but looking at a much lower scale for that second body because we presume now that he is deceased.' 

Share or comment on this article: Five unanswered questions in the mystery boat voyage after art expert died off Sydney Harbour - and tech guru remains missing presumed dead

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Tragedy as Lorcán Branagan's body is found in Sydney Harbour after he vanished without a trace from Bungalow8 in Barangaroo

A young Irish backpacker's body has been recovered from Sydney Harbour after he vanished during a night out clubbing with mates.

Lorcán Branagan, 26, was last seen at Darling Harbour's King Street Wharf around 3.30am Sunday after drinking and partying with friends at the Bungalow 8 nightclub.

He was reported missing 15 hours later, at about 6pm on Sunday, with police from PolAir and the marine command launching an air and water search.

Police divers located Mr Branagan's body in the water at Barangaroo on Monday.

'Following extensive inquiries and a multi-agency search with assistance from Marine Area Command and PolAir, the body of a man was located in the water about 12.45pm,' a police statement said.

Mr Branagan's sister Catlin shared a tribute to her brother on social media.

'It's difficult to put into words how simply amazing Lorcán was. I truly admired him throughout my life – particularly his sense of drive, hard work and ability to light up a room with his infectious smile and laugh,' his sister Caitlín said in a Facebook post.

'Oh what I would give to hear it just one more time. It breaks my heart how you were taken in such tragic circumstances, and my heart goes out to his girlfriend, Shona, and all our cousins who are currently out in Australia.

'Lorcán truly lived his life to the fullest.'

This marks the second tragedy for the Branagan family, following the passing of Mr Branagan's brother, Peárce, in 2018.

'Losing our brother Peárce was a difficult time for our entire family circle—but especially for our Lorcán. He and Peárce were inseparable. They had a bond that was like no other and an indescribable love for one another,' Ms Branagan said.

'Lorcán showed incredible strength during this time and the way he composed himself throughout was truly admirable to all.

'Our family feels a sense of comfort to know you are both united again,' she said.

'The number of places he visited was unbelievable for his young age. Over 10 countries since turning 18 and undertook opportunities to spent summers in China , Asia and North America. His last travel destination was Australia.'

Mr Branagan played for the Young Ireland GAA football club while living in Sydney, with his teammates issuing a tribute on social media.

'It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our cherished member, Lorcán Branagan,' the tribute said.

'Lorcán's unexpected departure has left us all reeling with shock and profound sorrow.

'Since joining our club this football season, Lorcán has made an indelible impression both on and off the pitch. His talent, enthusiasm, and kindness endeared him to all who had the privilege of knowing him.'

A memorial service to honour Mr Branagan will be held at Mary Immaculate Church in Waverley on Wednesday at 6pm.

Yacht Mark Twain being refurbished in bid to compete in Sydney to Hobart race once more

For the better part of five decades, one yacht returned to the starting line of the Sydney to Hobart race more than any other.

The timber and fibreglass hulled Mark Twain was built in 1971 and has competed in the race a record-breaking 26 times.

But since its last effort in 2018, it has languished at port.

The yacht's new owner, Rob Payne, who refers to himself as the boat's custodian, has grand plans to refurbish the vessel, a Sparkman and Stephens 39, and return the Mark Twain to its former glory.

Although he hopes to return the boat to the starting line of the Sydney to Hobart, he also believes the yacht can be used for a greater good.

Along with Beaconsfield mine disaster survivor Brant Webb , Mr Payne has plans to establish a group called Old Saltys, which will aim to use sailing as a vessel to empower youth through sharing knowledge.

"Sailing is a metaphor for life. You've got to trim your sails and set your course and you're gonna get buffeted around," he said.

The Old Salty's motto will be 'well-weathered wisdom', and the men believe they have a lot of life experience they can share with young people anywhere Mark Twain can sail.

Mine collapse survivor finds solace on the sea

Brant Webb, who was one of two miners rescued after spending 14 days trapped almost a kilometre underground when a Tasmanian mine collapsed in 2006, says sailing helped him after the ordeal.

"After Beaconsfield, if I was having a bad day I'd call up the GP and he'd say 'get the boat ready, we're going sailing'.

"I've been sailing since I was eight years old. All my life. That's the great thing about it, you can turn your phone off out there and no-one can find you."

Mr Webb said the Old Saltys group was intended for "sailors who are too old to race and too young to cruise".

"It gives us old folk a new lease on life. The whole thing is to connect people, to put the unity in community, which we lost during COVID."

Mr Payne, a recent transplant from New Zealand, said he was heartbroken by the condition of the Mark Twain when he first found it in 2020.

"When I saw it, it broke my heart," he said, adding that he had the opportunity to "do something about" refurbishing the "old girl".

"We're only ever the custodians of these extraordinary vessels."

Once a fine racing yacht, the Mark Twain had fallen into disrepair in port at George Town in recent years.

From its first entry in the Sydney to Hobart in 1971, the boat long held the steadily increasing record for the greatest number of entries in the iconic race, even managing to clinch podium finishes for its class on several occasions.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, it competed in more than 20 Sydney to Hobart races, and in 2002 became the first-ever boat to have sailed in 25.

"Thousands of men and women have sailed on this beautiful vessel," Mr Payne said.

It was bought and refurbished for its 26th entry by veteran Sydney to Hobart skipper Michael Spies in 2018, but that was the last time it took part.

Mr Payne spent several months last year refurbishing the boat's hull himself and on Wednesday, March 27, the mast and boom were removed to be restored by a Beauty Point shipwright.

Along with Mr Webb, he hopes to take the Mark Twain around Tasmania, Australia and New Zealand and share their knowledge of the seas.

"My encouragement to youth is to get into sailing and you know, become part of the community within those sailing clubs," Mr Payne said.

"You don't necessarily have to own a huge boat … you can be in a little sabot [dinghy] and have that experience on the water. It's life changing and transformational."

He is keen to share the refurbishment project with anyone who wants to be involved and hopes the Mark Twain will sail again in the next two to three years.

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March 27, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

By Kathleen Magramo , Antoinette Radford, Alisha Ebrahimji , Maureen Chowdhury , Elise Hammond , Tori B. Powell and Aditi Sangal , CNN

Our live coverage of the Baltimore bridge collapse has moved here .

Here's what you should know about the Key Bridge collapse

From CNN staff

Officials recovered the bodies of two construction workers who were on Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed early Tuesday morning after a 984-foot-long cargo ship collided into a pillar.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called the collapse Wednesday " a global crisis ."

"The national economy and the world's economy depends on the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in the country," Moore said.

Here's what you should know:

• The victims: The six people who are presumed dead were from Mexico Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, according to Col. Roland L. Butler Jr, the superintendent of Maryland State Police. Two bodies were recovered and have been identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Mexico and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera from Guatemala. The two workers were filling potholes on the bridge and were later found trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water, Butler said. The FBI is handling notifying the victims' families, Butler said.
• Recovery efforts: Authorities are pausing search efforts for the four other workers who are presumed dead, because additional vehicles are encased in concrete and other debris, making it unsafe for divers, Butler said. Once salvage operations clear the debris, divers will search for more remains, he said.
• The investigation: The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the fatal incident, according to the agency's chair Jennifer Homendy. During a Wednesday news conference, Homendy said there were 21 crew members and two pilots on board the Dali cargo ship when it crashed into the bridge. She also said a senior NTSB hazmat investigator identified 56 containers of hazardous material, and that some containers are in the water. The agency received six hours of voyage data from the ship and the investigation could take 12 to 24 months to complete, Homendy said. She emphasized that NTSB will not analyze information collected or provide conclusions while on scene of the collapse.
• Looking forward: Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said rebuilding the bridge will not be "quick or easy" but that it will get done. He said there are four main focus points ahead: reopening the port, dealing with supply chain issues until its reopening, rebuilding the bridge and dealing with traffic issues until the bridge is rebuilt. Biden  pledged the full support  of the federal government in the response and recovery efforts. His administration has already conveyed a sense of urgency to open up federal funding to remove debris and ultimately rebuild the bridge. Maryland has submitted a request to the Biden administration for emergency relief funds "to assist in our work going forward," Moore said Wednesday.

It's almost impossible to place people on the bow of ship due to the unstable structure, fire official says

 From CNN's Sarah Engel

Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said Wednesday that the cargo ship's bridge structure and containers at the bow remain unstable.

"It's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, and very dangerous, to place people on the bow of that boat right now," Wallace told CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

"Naturally, we're still very cognizant of the fact that there are hazardous materials on board the vessel itself," Wallace said, alluding to the National Transportation Safety Board saying earlier that 56 containers were carrying hazardous materials.

Wallace said his team is relying heavily on aerial recognizance, including drones. "That's the only way we're able to see in," he said.  

He added that the aerial surveillance has "been able to really assure us right now we have no [chemical] reactions on board." 

"It's just utter devastation," NTSB chief says of the bridge collapse site

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, called the site of the Key Bridge collapse "devastating."

"It's pretty devastating, certainly, seeing not just what's going on with the cargo containers, but just looking at what was a bridge span — three bridge spans that is pretty much gone. It's just utter devastation," she said at Wednesday evening's news briefing.

She added that she is thinking of families who lost loved ones and those who are waiting to reunite with their lived ones.

NTSB interviewed the Dali's captain and some other crew members today, agency chief says

The National Transportation Safety Board has interviewed the ship's captain, his mate, the chief engineer and one other engineer today, according to Chair Jennifer Homendy.

The two pilots on board the Dali at the time of collision will be interviewed tomorrow, she added.

Cargo ship's voyage data recorder is basic when compared to an airplane's, NTSB chair says

From CNN's Tori B. Powell

The voyage data recorder on the cargo ship Dali was a "newer model" but is considered basic when compared to that on an airplane, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

"But it is very basic compared to say, a flight data recorder, where we would have 1,000 parameters," she said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The NTSB chief investigator Marcel Muise added:

"It's not a ship-wide system recorder, so most of the sensors that are being recorded are from the bridge. So things like GPS, the audio, rudder feedback, rudder commands are recorded on there. But not engineering, the temperature of each cylinder, power distribution sensors."

There were no tug boats with Dali at the time of the collision. That's normal, NTSB chief says

There were no tugs with Dali when the cargo vessel collided with Baltimore's Key Bridge, which is normal protocol, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

Remember: At 01:26:39 on Tuesday, Dali's pilot made a general very high frequency (VHF) radio call for tugs in the vicinity to assist, the NTSB investigator Marcel Muise had said.

"The tugs help the vessel leave the dock, leave the port and get into the main ship channel. And then they leave. Once it's on its way, it's a straight shot through the channel. So there are no tugs with the vessel at the time. So they were calling for tugs," she said.

NTSB chair says she saw some containers that were carrying hazardous materials in the water

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said she did see some of the 56 containers that were carrying hazardous materials in the water.

When asked how many

When asked how many containers of hazardous materials were in the water, Homendy said:

"I did see some containers in the water, and some breached significantly on the vessel itself," she said. "I don't have an exact number, but it's something that we can provide in an update."

Homendy said that a preliminary report should be out in two to four weeks.

This post has been updated with more quotes from Homendy.

Bridge did not have any redundancy, unlike the preferred method for building bridges today, NTSB chair says

Baltimore's Key Bridge did not have any redundancy, which is included in the preferred method of building bridges in the present day, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

"The bridge is a fracture critical," she explained. "What that means is if a member fails that would likely cause a portion of, or the entire bridge, to collapse, there's no redundancy. The preferred method for building bridges today is that there is redundancy built in, whether that's transmitting loads to another member or some sort of structural redundancy. This bridge did not have redundancy," Homendy said.

There are 17,468 fracture critical bridges in the United States out of 615,000 bridges total, she said, citing the Federal Highway Administration.

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Body found in Sydney Harbour four days after fisherman’s boat capsized

Police say body of 49-year-old was found by other fishermen in water near Washaway Bay on Wednesday morning

The body of a man missing since a boat capsized on Sydney Harbour on the weekend has been found in Middle Harbour.

The 49-year-old fisherman had been missing since the early hours of Saturday when he was thrown from a boat along with another man, aged 25, and a dog off North Harbour.

The younger man was rescued a few hours later, about 5am, after being spotted by a local fisherman in the water near Dobroyd Head.

On Wednesday morning, police were called to Middle Harbour before 10am after two other fishermen located a body in the water near Washaway Bay in Clontarf.

The body was recovered by the marine command and identified as the missing 49-year-old. A report will be prepared for the coroner, New South Wales police said in a statement.

The 25-year-old was rescued on Saturday morning by surf lifesavers on jet skis and taken to Little Manly Beach where he told police his boat had flipped with his friend and a dog on board.

The dog was found alive at nearby Cave Beach about 10.30am after the boat’s fuel tank and rubber mats were earlier recovered about 3.7km off the coast.

The 49-year-old, who the ABC named as Darren Huber , was said to have no fixed address and had been living in a camper van in the north shore area.

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