Australian authorities are providing support to the family of a South Australian woman who is suspected to have died while sailing off the east coast of Africa.
Deirdre “Cookie” Sibley, 67, of Port Lincoln, moved from Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, in June. She was traveling with her friend, Pascal Mahé, a French citizen, on his yacht and the couple intended to visit South Africa.
Sibley’s older sister, Sue Good, said a distress call was made from the boat – named Actaeon – in the Mozambique Channel about halfway between Madagascar and Mozambique on Wednesday evening local time. The ship was later found drifting with two dead people.
Recalling the events following the distress call, Good said a container ship had picked up the call and alerted the French coast guard, who contacted Sibley’s family in Australia, who monitored the container ship’s movements throughout Thursday and Thursday night.
He said the cargo ship’s crew had not been able to board the ferry, instead making “every effort” to contact those on board. But “there was no sign of life on the boat”, he said.
That ship was then joined by a cargo ship and a maxi ferry. Cook said he believed the sailors on the maxi yacht were eventually able to board the Actaeon.
“I got a call from the (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) about 10am on Friday morning, that’s when they told me someone was able to get on the boat and a man and woman were found dead,” he told Guardian Australia on Monday afternoon.
He said the pair have not yet been formally identified and a family member may have to travel to Africa to identify Sibley’s body.
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As of Monday, Good said the yacht was “still sailing with them at full sail”. They believed that the ship was being tracked by satellite.
Given that both were “very experienced” sailors, “something obviously went very wrong”, she said.
Authorities in South Africa and Mauritius are understood to be working with local authorities and French authorities on the investigation.
He said investigations and repatriations were “going very slowly”.
“We would like to have a lot of questions answered and the next thing is to get him back here,” he said. He said he was warned that the process would be lengthy and could take “months”.
She said her sister had been sailing for 40 years and was “having the time of her life”, while her partner, with whom she left Port Lincoln earlier this year, had been sailing around the world for almost a decade, most of which he had spent alone.
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During the trip, whenever Sibley was on land, she contacted her family and kept in touch through the travel app, PolarSteps. The pair planned to travel to Durban, then Cape Town, from where she would fly home.
“She last sent me a message on November 19, as they were about to leave port to head south. She said they would be sailing for at least 14 days,” Good said. “She knew it was dangerous, but she was really adventurous. She loved sailing, it was her whole world.
“I hope it’s all wrong,” she said of the events, “but I think there’s about a 1% chance that it’s wrong”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was “providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian missing in the Mozambique Channel”.
“Our thoughts are with the family at this time of crisis.
“Due to our confidentiality obligations we are unable to provide any further comment.”
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