Australian rescuers have scaled back the search for crewmen missing from a yacht found floating off the coast with its engine running, food on its table ready to eat and a laptop computer turned on.

Police are still trying to solve the Mary Celeste-style mystery but have cut back their air and sea hunt, and told local radio it was feared the three men may have fallen off the boat in rough weather six days earlier.

The 12-meter catamaran was found 80 nautical miles off Townsville on the northeast coast on Wednesday, but there was no sign of the three crewmen who had set sail from Queensland state bound for Australia's west coast last Sunday.

Local media named the three men as 56-year-old skipper Des Batten, 69-year-old Peter Tunstead and his 63-year-old brother James.

A police helicopter search for the three men was called off on Saturday.

Two volunteer marine rescue vessels were continuing the search, police said.

Superintendent Roy Wall told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio it was likely the men were thrown overboard. He said recovered navigational equipment suggested something threw the boat off course last Sunday.

Another theory circulating is that a vessel came alongside and they boarded it, either willingly or unwillingly, as if they had been attacked by pirates.

The yacht's rubber fenders had been put over the side suggesting another boat had docked with it.

But Detective Inspector Warren Webber of Townsville police dismissed the theory.

"I know that some people have speculated that means another craft has come alongside," Inspector Webber said. "But I'm told it's not unusual for some small craft people not to take the fenders in."

The yacht's sails were still up when it was discovered but one was badly shredded.

Police said the global positioning satellite (GPS) and radio were working.

Three life jackets and survival equipment, including an emergency beacon, were found on board, but no life rafts.

The men's clothes were folded in neat piles on the rear deck, as if they had gone swimming.

The Kaz II had set off from Shute Harbour at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays last Sunday.

Now alone in Townsville, it will be sailed back to Western Australia by a replacement crew.

Police believe there is little hope now of the three men ever being found.

"Unfortunately, the medical advice that we have received is that it is unlikely the three men could have survived in the water for this period of time," said Inspector Webber.

"It's certainly very unusual and it's obviously very tragic for the families and for those involved.

"It seems very unlikely we will be able to say exactly just what has occurred at this point in time."

The mysterious disappearance of the crew is reminiscent of the strange case of the Mary Celeste - an abandoned "ghost ship" found off the coast of Portugal in 1872. None of the Mary Celeste's crew or passengers were ever found.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/23/2007 page9)