Hope fading for ghost ship crew

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.