The case record
What was reported?
Three sailors disappeared from Kaz II off Queensland in April 2007. The Queensland coroner concluded they died in the sea and proposed a sequence involving an initial man overboard and attempted rescue.
The yacht departed Airlie Beach on 15 April and was later seen drifting without an apparent crew. Its preserved everyday contents attracted ghost-ship comparisons, but investigators reconstructed its movements from navigation equipment, photographs, video and witness accounts.
The range spans departure and recovery rather than asserting five days of survival. Marker represents the coastal reconstruction area.
- Reported date
- April 2007; coronial findings August 2008
- Witnesses
- Historical records, investigators and observers; see case-specific account · Not reliably reducible to a single count
- Investigation
- Historical and research accounts reviewed from: Queensland Office of the State Coroner; ABC News
Evidence in the record
The 2008 findings assess weather, the torn sail and how an unattended yacht could continue moving. The coroner distinguished firm evidence from assumptions and rejected some sightings because their remembered dates conflicted with other records.
Competing explanations
Official and research context
The Queensland coroner found that the men died in the sea and proposed a man-overboard emergency followed by unsuccessful rescue attempts.
Conventional explanations
Accidental immersion followed by companions entering the water offers a coherent explanation. Wind and current could carry the yacht out of reach. Without surviving witnesses or recovered bodies, the precise order of individual actions remains a reconstruction.
Arguments that remain contested
The first event putting a man in the sea and the exact rescue sequence cannot be verified.
Locations & timeline
Coordinates are representative. Area and route labels do not imply exact paths or object positions.
- Primary reference location
George Point coastal region
The range spans departure and recovery rather than asserting five days of survival. Marker represents the coastal reconstruction area.
Representative case location · Approximate area radius: 60 km
-20.000°, 148.500° · point · Regional reference only; not survey-grade
Record notes
Map coordinates are representative and do not establish an exact incident position.
Case-specific sources researched 8 September 2026. Further access/editorial review noted.
Original dataset status: partially-explained