Two sailors were shocked when they found a ' ghost ship ' floating alone in the ocean - with no crew onboard. The white yacht was believed to have sank in 'appalling' weather near the Bermuda Triangle in 2013 and it was never seen again.
Owned by an Irish Yacht Club member, the vessel was last seen sailing 70 miles north of the island in the North Atlantic Ocean when it was battered by 20-foot waves and had to be abandoned, as the Daily Star reports. It was presumed to have gone down but now the yacht has been discovered by a pair of sailors, who found it 800 miles from Bermuda with "no sign of anyone" on board.
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When the ship was abandoned, the US Coast Guard was scrambled and two merchant vessels were diverted from their courses, reaching the distressed sailing boat and taking the four crew on board in "appalling conditions," according to Sail World.
Battered by 50 knot winds and huge waves, the 48–foot Irish yacht suffered both power and engine failures, but it hadn't sank as previously thought.
Recently, two Ocean Research Project workers found the vessel drifting in the North Atlantic, and experienced sailor Matt Rutherford climbed aboard to be greeted by eerie scenes - but managed to avoid his fear of finding a dead body.
He filmed himself as he readied to leave his own vessel, saying: "This is one awfully abandoned sailboat. Wolfhound from the Irish yacht club.
"I have no idea what's inside, I'm going to go and search around and I hope I don't find any dead bodies or anything."
He added afterwards: "No dead bodies, thank God.
"This is absolutely crazy by the way. 800 miles from Bermuda, 1,500 miles from the US, standing on a very nice Swan 48, in the middle of the ocean."
The ship, found over 700 miles from where it was abandoned in 2013, belonged to skipper Alan McGettigan from the Royal Irish Yacht Club.
He and three other crew members were rescued by a cargo ship almost 10 years ago, and left the newly-bought yacht to drift.
Reportedly lawyers and businessmen, the crew set off from Connecticut in the US heading for Bermuda and then Antigua.
But about 400 miles off the Delaware coast the storm struck and the boat 'lost battery power and suffered mechanical failure' as weather conditions worsened.
A Bermuda coastguard spokesman said the yacht suffered two 'knock-downs' so they put out a distress call.
The rescued yachtsmen reported at the time that the boat had sunk soon after their rescue.
Rutherford began dragging the vessel in an attempt to get it back to dry land, before having to abandon it himself when the load became too much.
Matt had said: "It's kinda funny, 48ft boat with a 42ft boat. We're doing our best trying to get her to Bermuda."
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