Historical Strangeness

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StrangeOutdoors.com 12/4/20 StrangeOutdoors.com 12/4/20

The Kaz II ghost yacht mystery

Revised December 2023

A white catamaran was found drifting 88 nautical miles (163 km) off the northeastern coast of Australia on April 20, 2007, and like the famous story of the Mary Celeste, the crew of the Kaz II had mysteriously vanished without a trace. This started an enduring mystery, the “Ghost Ship of Australia”.

Search and rescue found the boat "eerie" on entering it. An inquest blamed misadventure and bad luck by the crew, but what happened is a question that will never be fully answered as many years later, the crew’s bodies remain missing in the Coral Sea.

The Ghost Ship Mary Celeste and the Eilean Mòr lighthouse disappearances

Marie Celeste is the classic story of the “ghost ship”. It was an American merchant brigantine discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands on December 4, 1872. She was found in a disheveled but seaworthy condition, under partial sail and missing her lifeboat. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier. She had left New York City for Genoa on November 7, and the cargo of denatured alcohol was intact, and personal belongings were undisturbed. None of those on board were ever seen or heard from again.

On the 26th of December 1900, a small ship called Hesperus, captained by James Harvie, was making its way to the island of Eilean Mòr, part of the Flannan Islands in the remote Outer Hebrides, off the north-west coast of Scotland. The island is one of seven islets known to locals as the Seven Hunters, around 17 miles west of the Isle of Lewis.

Eilean Mòr’s only inhabitants at the time were the lighthouse keepers stationed at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse, near the highest point on the island. The lighthouse was manned and operated by three men: Principal Keeper James Ducat, 43, Thomas Marshall, 40, and Donald William McArthur, 28. McArthur was an Occasional Keeper on duty in place of a regular member of staff, William Ross, who was on sick leave.

That visit by Captain Harvie’s ship was to be the start of one of the most enduring and mysterious disappearance mysteries in Scottish history.

Read the Eilean Mòr mystery here: The Strange Disappearance of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers.

Start of the The Kaz II voyage from Airlie Beach

The Kaz II crew consisted of Captain Derek “Des” Charles Batten, 56, James Alfred Tunstead, 69, and Peter John Tunstead, 63. All three retired men lived in Perth, Western Australia.

They cast off from Airlie Beach in Queensland, Australia, on Sunday, 15 April 2007, and were heading for Townsville on their way to Perth. It was an 8-week voyage. Townsville is around 168 miles (270 km) North of Airlie, and the Great Barrier Reef lies off its coast. They had previously left Shute Harbour just to the east and ended up at Airlie because they had a GPS issue.

James Tunstead, Des Batten and Peter Tunstead

Batten bought the Kaz II in 2006 for $US80,000 and sailed it a couple of times after going on a sailing course. Before the latest voyage, he took coastal navigation, radio, and first aid courses. The Tunsteads were not nautical novices either since they sailed together from when they were 18 years old and even worked in the radio rooms of the Volunteer Sea Rescue, but they were inexperienced on larger vessels.

The last known contact of the family members with any of the crew was made one-and-a-half hours after it left port when one crew member was contacted by his wife.

Graeme Douglas, the boat's previous owner, had warned the men not to leave the Whitsunday area because they did not have enough experience. He said the men appeared nervous about the trip but anxious to get underway since their original start date had been postponed because of bad weather and the fact that they had trouble understanding the vessel's global positioning system. "I said if you're not ready, don't go.”

The start of the mystery

The first indication of a problem came on Wednesday, 18 April 2007, when a helicopter was reportedly spotted Kaz II adrift near the Great Barrier Reef.

On April 20, maritime authorities caught up with the boat and boarded it. Strangely, no one was on board the vessel. Jon Hall, Queensland's Emergency Management Office (QEMO), said, "What they found was a bit strange in that everything was normal; there was just no sign of the crew."

The QEMO revealed that the boat was in serviceable condition and was laid out as if the crew were still on board. Food and cutlery were set out on the table, a laptop computer was set up and turned on, and the engine was still running. Officials also confirmed that the boat's emergency systems, including its radio and GPS, were fully functional and still had its full complement of life jackets. There was also a small boat still hoisted on the stern of the boat, and the anchor was up.

The only signs that were out of the ordinary, other than the crew's disappearance, were that the main sail had been badly shredded and that there was no life raft on board (it is unknown whether there ever was one aboard).

Rescue officer Corrie Benson said that he found an "eerie" scene when he was winched down from a helicopter to search the stricken vessel.

He saw the discarded coffee cup and newspapers and found knives strewn on the floor. "My biggest fear was being attacked by somebody who did not want me on the boat. I was 160km out to sea with no backup. I didn't know if someone was going to burst through a cupboard and go at me with a knife. I saw all the knives on the ground, but no blood, and thought, 'what the ... ?'"

The Search for the Kaz II Crew

Search and rescue efforts began on April 18, with boats and a Navy aircraft with infrared capability looking near the locations identified in the video and data from the GPS system. At the same time, Bowen Voluntary Marine Rescue launched a coastal and island search.

The next day, a full-scale search-and-rescue effort was launched involving Volunteer Rescue Units from several towns and the Townville's coast guard, two rescue helicopters, nine airplanes, and two commercial vessels.

Dr. Paul Luckin, a survival-time expert, was consulted. He concluded that it was unlikely that the men were still alive if they were still in the water, as they had probably gone overboard three to four days earlier. The teams still had hope that the men could have reached land and continued searching until 4 pm on April 21, when the air and sea search was called off.

Another coastline search was launched on Monday, April 23, after some new information had come in, but the search proved fruitless and was called off on 25 April.

Investigations into the Kaz II mystery

On Friday, April 20, Kaz II was towed into Townsville port for forensic examination and on the next day, Sergeant Bardell and Sergeant Molloy of the Queensland Police searched the ship for signs of foul play. No evidence for this was found, and they discovered that the cabin was neat and tidy apart from some magazines, a newspaper, and a wine cask lying on the floor. It was later determined that these items ended up on the floor while the ship was being towed to shore. In the sink were a few butter knives, and a plastic sheath of fishing knives was found on a bench in the galley. They did not appear to have been used recently.

Under Des Batten's bed, in a sealed container, the investigators found a firearm and some ammunition, none of which was used. In a drawer, they found an additional single bullet of the same caliber.

After analyzing data from the catamaran’s GPS system, police deduced that it had been steered northeast into an area where rough seas were building on the day of departure. Later in the afternoon, the GPS data showed it to be adrift.

The investigators also recovered a video recording filmed by James Tunstead on 15 April at 10.05 am, shortly before the men disappeared, showing that:

Des Batten was at the helm with the vessel under sail
The sea was choppy, and no men wore life jackets.
Peter Tunstead was fishing on the aft stairway of the boat
A long white rope can be seen trailing behind the boat.

The film showed the coastline in the area, and this helped investigators pinpoint the exact location of the ship. It was taken between Gumbrell Island, Grassy Island, and Armit Island.

Inquest into the Kaz II incident

Between August 4 and 7, 2008, an inquest into the men's disappearance began in the Townsville Coroner's Court led by Queensland state coroner Michael Barnes. In total, twenty-seven witnesses were called to testify, and 107 pieces of evidence were submitted.

Jennifer Batten testified that her husband Des was an experienced and careful yachtsman, had been around boats for 25 years, and was acutely aware of the need for safety. He had earned his recreational skipper's ticket and a qualification in marine radio. Every summer, they travelled together to Rottnest Island on various motorboats, although Kaz II was their first sailboat. After they bought it, the couple took a six-week sailing course and then sailed Kaz II around the Whitsundays twice. Apart from a minor problem with a propeller, the trips were without issues.

Batten's wife also stated that the original plan was to sail Kaz II to Fremantle as a couple but that Batten was worried that just two people aboard might not be safe. He decided to take his neighbours, brothers Peter and James Tunstead, with him instead. The trip was planned over several months and discussed daily as they plotted routes with the help of a computer. "They allowed themselves six to eight weeks to get back to Fremantle, but because Des and Peter were retired, it didn't matter how long they took … They didn't want to sail at night for safety [reasons]", Jennifer Batten said, and they planned to stay reasonably close to the shore. Although Batten was taking medications for high cholesterol, mild diabetes, and had suffered a heart attack at age 50, she believed that he was well enough and fit for the journey.

Also heard was Graeme Douglas, the previous owner of Kaz II, who had sold the boat to Batten. He stated the boat was in good condition when it was sold and that he had met the men the night before they set sail. He also helped the men plan part of their route and was surprised to see that, according to the police, the men had deviated from their planned route programmed in their GPS.

Gavin Howland, the skipper of a commercial fishing vessel called the Jillian, testified that on 16 April 2007, while fishing on a reef off Bowen, he and his crew saw a white yacht with a torn sail drifting sideways between the reefs through a narrow passage, at up to 3 km (5.6 km/h), in a north-northeastern direction along with the current. He came within 50 metres of the boat but could not spot anyone on board. This was two days before the coast guard spotted Kaz II adrift off the coast of Townsville and the day after authorities believe the men went missing. Howland found it odd that a sailboat was in an area noted for its shallow water and rocks. He did not attempt to contact the boat or the authorities. Howland told the inquest that it did not occur to him that the yacht crew might be in distress and said: "It did seem a bit strange to me, but I just have this rule that no one goes near another vessel".

Sergeant Paul Molloy, one of the three forensic police officers who examined Kaz II after she was towed back to shore in April 2007, told the inquest that he did not believe the men had met with foul play. He spent several hours combing the ship for signs of a struggle but found no evidence that anyone besides the three-man crew of the vessel had been aboard. "We came to the conclusion the boat itself was not a crime scene," he told the inquest. After questions by Peter Tunstead's widow, Frances, about why the police did not check for fingerprints, Sgt. Molloy said his years of experience told him it was not necessary. "We were there for a long time; we pulled the boat apart and found nothing untoward... If there was any indication [of foul play], we would have taken every measure we could to examine that boat.”

Conclusions of the Inquest

State coroner Barnes admits in his official report that he "cannot be so definitive about the circumstances under which the deaths occurred."

However, based on the eyewitness accounts, the video found on board, and the state of the yacht in which it was found, the report proposed the following scenario:

"On Sunday, 15 April 2007, at 10:05 A.M., the Kaz II was sailing in the vicinity of George Point. Up to that moment, everything was going as planned but, in the following hour, their situation changed dramatically. The men hauled in the white rope that was trailing behind the boat and bundled it up on the foredeck, possibly to dry, next to the locker it was normally kept in. For unknown reasons, James Tunstead then took off his T-shirt and glasses and placed them on the backseat. The report says that since the men's fishing lure was found entangled in the ship's port side rudder, an obvious explanation would be that one of them tried to free the lure and fell overboard while doing so. Standing on the boat's 'sugar scoop' platform (a platform at the back of the ship close to the waterline) while the boat is moving is perilous and falling in the water is easy, but getting back aboard is almost impossible. One of the other men then came to the rescue of his brother, while Batten, still on board, started the motor and realized he had to drop the sails before he could go back for his friends.

As he left the helm to drop the sails, a deviation of the ship's course or wind direction could have easily caused a jibe, swinging the boom across the deck and knocking Batten overboard. This could even have happened before Batten was able to untie and throw out the life ring to his friends. A blue coffee mug found near the life ring may support this. Since the boat was travelling before wind and at a speed of 15 km (28 km/h), it would be out of reach of the men within seconds. The report states: "From that point, the end would have been swift. None of them were good swimmers, the seas were choppy; the men would have quickly become exhausted and sunk beneath the waves."

The report ruled out foul play and staged disappearance.

Other explanations for the disappearance of the Kaz II crew

Weather

According to authorities in Townsville, the weather had been windy, and the sea had been rough between the time that Kaz II departed and was found drifting. This led authorities to speculate that the crew may have experienced sudden difficulty during rough weather and gone overboard.

However, one issue with this theory is that the contents of the cabin, including a table, did not seem to have been disrupted in any way. Relatives of the missing men say that the boat's condition makes this unlikely and point to discrepancies such as the fact that the men's fishing lines and laundry were set out and that their life jackets were still stowed, which indicated that they were not experiencing rough weather at the time of their disappearance.

Kidnapped

Also noted was that Kaz II was found with its fenders out, leading to speculation that the boat may have docked with another as-yet-unknown vessel to which the crew might have willingly or unwillingly transferred.

Hope Himing, niece of boat owner Des Batten:" The fenders were out on their yacht, and the only reason you ever put them out is when another boat comes aside or if you come to rest against a wharf."

But Townsville police said that small craft commonly left their fenders out at all times, making it impossible to draw any definitive conclusions.

Faulty GPS

Volunteer radio operator Ivan Ormes recorded that Kaz II radioed in at 6.45 pm on April 15, giving its position as George Point. This is the last known contact with Kaz II. It should have taken them a short time to reach George Point, and it is unclear what took them so long to arrive there. One explanation is that they were fishing the whole day, but maybe they had problems with their GPS since they had already tried to set off on April 14 but were forced to return because of the non-functional GPS. That incident was because of an easily fixed user error, so Kaz II set off early the next day.

Lodged on sandbar

Perhaps the catamaran became stuck on a sandbar near George Point, where the boat's last radio message was made. When the men jumped overboard to push it free, a gust of wind blew, and the boat drifted away, leaving them stranded. This would explain why towels were left out on the deck.

Freak wave

A freak wave may have washed over one crew member; the others were lost trying to rescue him. But why the shredded sail?

Other theories

There were suggestions that the men staged their disappearance for insurance purposes.

One of the wilder theories was that a paranormal event had happened aboard their catamaran, or a whale or giant squid had attacked it. Or even that they had been abducted by extraterrestrials or gone through a wormhole.

Unanswered Questions on the Kaz II mystery

Why was the jib sail shredded?

The triangular sail called the jib, one of the so-called headsails on a modern boat, was shredded entirely when the catamaran was discovered. What happened to it? The coroner’s report mentions, “As he left the helm to drop the sails, a deviation of the ship's course or wind direction could have easily caused a jibe, swinging the boom across the deck and knocking Batten overboard”. However, such a jibe would not have caused the damage to the jib that was found.

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The strange disappearance of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers

Sources