Mystery surrounds the death of two sailors aboard a cruising yacht that was found last week drifting between Madagascar and the South African coastline, according to multiple media reports this week.
The pair, identified as Australian Deirdre ‘Cookie’ Sibly and her French companion ‘Pascal Mahe’, had reportedly embarked in June on the ‘trip of a lifetime’ but were found dead aboard their vessel. They had issued a distress signal last week, the New York Post reported.
“When authorities reached the vessel, Sibly and Mahe were found deceased. At this stage, official identification has been made, but the cause of death has not been released,” Independent Online News reported. “Investigations are ongoing, with Australian consular authorities working alongside French and regional maritime agencies to piece together what happened,” IOL reported.
The pair left Réunion Island sometime in June and were en route Durban via the Mozambique Channel. The route is notorious for both tricky sailing conditions and has seen incidents of piracy which prompted the South African navy’s intermittent Operation Copper deployment in the area.