Rebecka Michaud
The family of an Australian sailor found dead alongside her travel companion on their yacht off the coast of South Africa fears she may have been attacked by pirates.
Deirdre Sibly, 68, from Port Lincoln in South Australia, and her French companion Pascal were sailing near Madagascar, an island off Africa’s south-east coast, when they encountered trouble on Thursday and issued a distress signal.
Local authorities and nearby ships rushed to their aid but found the pair’s bodies on board. Both were seasoned sailors.
The South African seas are notoriously dangerous for maritime violence, sparking fears from Ms Sibly’s heartbroken loved ones about how the pair died.
‘It isn’t a very safe place in the world to be sailing. She knew that,’ her sister Sue Good told Seven News.
Ms Sibly had been sailing across the Indian Ocean since June after meeting up with her French travel companion on Réunion Island.
The pair sailed down the Mozambique Channel headed west towards Durban, South Africa, where Ms Sibly was due to fly home.
‘They’ve been on the adventure of a lifetime and she was having the time of her life,’ Ms Good told Nine News.
‘We only know that they were found deceased on the yacht – we don’t know anything about how that happened.
‘How could this happen to two happy people doing what they loved?’
While the Somali seas, further north of Madagascar on Africa’s eastern coast, have a long and troubled history of piracy spanning decades, South African waters have become a new hotspot for nefarious activity in recent years.
In 2011, the Institute For Security Studies noted that South African waters have become an ‘increasingly attractive alternative to Somali pirates who realised that there is worthwhile prey waiting to be exploited’.
According to a report by the non-profit think tank, the pirates target both ‘recreational and commercial’ unarmed vessels travelling to tourist destinations in the region, including the Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, and South Africa.
Earlier this month, a Malta-flagged oil tanker heading from India to Durban in South Africa was targeted by Somali pirates.
Bandits fired machineguns and grenades before boarding the Hellas Aphrodite off the coast of Somalia, forcing the 24 sailors onboard to lock themselves inside a part of the ship while the attackers took control of the vessel.
A European Union naval ship rushed to their rescue, with the pirates abandoning the vessel before the Spanish warship arrived. All 24 crew members were unharmed during the incident.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has not yet linked the deaths of Ms Sibly and her companion to pirates, Authorities are still investigating the circumstances.
‘DFAT is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian missing in the Mozambique channel,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Our thoughts are with the family at this distressing time.
‘Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.’
Meanwhile, tributes have begun to flow online for Ms Sibly, who was affectionately known as ‘Cookie’ to loved ones.
Friend Sarah Mack described her as ‘the ultimate adventurer’.
‘Cook never let the grass grow under her feet. She took all life had to offer and ran toward every opportunity with unbridled energy, joy and enthusiasm to explore, to learn and most importantly, to have fun,’ Ms Mack said.
‘The most excellent bonus mum, passionate teacher, ocean advocate and seasoned sailor. I loved every second I spent with her.
‘Thank you for all that you have been to me in this life. I’ll miss you both for always and see you in the waves, the sunsets and the creatures of the sea.’
Another friend said Ms Sibly was ‘such a beautiful lady’.
‘Rest in peace Cookie,’ she said.
Ms Sibly was an experienced sailor who had travelled the world sailing with her husband, Colin, before his death from cancer in 2019.
‘You drifted away on the ebbing tide way too soon,’ Ms Sibly wrote in an obituary at the time.
‘We had many more oceans to cross together. May the wind sit squarely in the shoulder of your sails. Your spirit will be with me forever.
‘Your best friend, crew mate, adventurer & wife Cookie.’
Source: Dailymail.co.uk | Read the Full Story…
