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On This Day - March 25th 2008
New Zealand ghost ship ‘Air Apparent’ is abandoned.
The “Air Apparent” was a small yacht which was abandoned off the northern coast of New Zealand on 25 March 2008. The inexperience of the yacht’s crew caused them to panic when the boat’s battery died amidst high winds, and they mutinied against skipper, Bill Heritage. When they set off an emergency position indicating radio beacon against the skipper’s orders, this alerted the coast guard who sent a rescue helicopter, and Heritage was forced to abandon his yacht.
“Air Apparent” continued to sail alone, reaching Norfolk Island some 800 nautical miles away, where it was reported by the French Navy patrol ship La Moqueuse on a trip from Noumea to Nelson. Fourteen months after the yacht was abandoned on 25 March, fishermen from the small north Queensland sugar town of Bowen towed it ashore. It was found to have suffered significant water damage as a result of the hatch being left open, but skipper Bill Heritage was amazed it was still afloat.