Ship's Crew Mysteriously Vanish

The crew of the CAZ 11 vanished of the coast of Australia. The 36 foot catamaran was found with it's engine running and dinner set on the table ready to eat, but no crew was found. Located 80 nautical miles off Townsville on the northeast coast, without it crew which set sail from Queensland. Much like the mystery of 'Mary Celeste', which was found in 1872 in a similar fashion floating 600 miles off Gibraltar.

Jon Hall from emergency management in Queensland told local radio Friday, "What they found was a bit strange in that everything was normal, there was just no sign of the crew." Hall went on to say that the sails were up though none was badly shredded and the table was set with food, a laptop was found still on and the GPS system was intact and working. The only thing missing was the crew and a life raft.

Police said that when they boarded the crew ages 59, 63 and 69 were missing even though three life vest, emergency beacon and survival gear were left behind. They also said that the seas had been rather rough on Sunday and Monday. The craft was found on the outer Great Barrier Reef on Wednesday.

Investigators removed the GPS in ordered to track where the craft had been in the days prior to the crews disappearance.

It is a mystery right out of the history books. The 'Mary Celeste' a ship from the 19th century disappeared under the command of Captain Benjamin Briggs, who had his wife and daughter on board the day the crew disappeared. His family and crew of seven disappeared on November 24, 1872 while traveling between N.Y and England. This was the day of the captains last entry into the Ship's log. Nothing in the log gives any idea as to what occurred. The ship was not found until December 4, 1872. The ship was in good condition and there is some debate as to whether the life boat was found strapped to the side of the ship.

One theory is that the ship that found and claimed salvage rights to the 'Mary Celeste' the Dei Gratia, had plotted to take it over by placing three crew man on the 'Mary Celeste' in order to take it over once at sea. The cargo and money box were found on the ship untouched. While the story of the 'Mary Celeste' is similar to the CAZ 11 it is still unknown as to what happened to the CAZ11 off the coast of Australia. A search for the missing crew members is still on going.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070420/od_nm/australia_yacht_odd_dc;_ylt=AkM1evqeimJOUm7vLZ6Za2nMWM0F, http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Nova_Scotia/mary_celeste.htm)