Johannesburg - A South African yacht with seven people on board which went missing over the weekend was spotted off the northern Mozambican coast on Monday, according to reports.
Eyewitness News reported the yacht was seen off the coast of Pemba by a plane belonging to the European Union’s anti-piracy force.
Yacht owner Roger Hartley said it appeared the Dandelion's crew and seven passengers, including two locals, were safe and well.
Hartley believed the boat was never in danger. Responding to concerns that they had fallen prey to pirates, he told Eyewitness News that pirates were usually active north of Tanzania.
The yacht went missing on a cruise between the island Mayotte in the Indian Ocean and Pemba in northern Mozambique, Beeld newspaper reported on Monday.
The captain of the yacht is John Sergel, a South African from Durban, and his co-skipper is Izabella Moallic, a French citizen.
Also on the cruise were Gianvieve Mancuso, an American, and her German husband Alexander Weyhe, British passport holder Jason Morenikeji, South African Frank Joubert, and Dutch citizen Jasper van Straaten.
Hartley reportedly told Beeld that because of the different nationalities of the passengers, authorities from several countries had been drawn into the search.
Radio contact was last made at about 18:00 on Tuesday last week, when the group notified Mayotte port authorities that they had reached open water.
- SAPA/News24
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