Police: GPS could be key to unlocking 'ghost ship' mystery

The family of missing yachtie Paul van Rensburg will retrieve his dog, Juanita, from the Chathams. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A global positioning system (GPS) being examined by maritime authorities could be "the big clue" and provide vital information about what happened to missing yachtie Paul van Rensburg, police say.

Despite a three-day search after he failed to arrive in Gisborne, Mr van Rensburg's yacht, Tafadzwa, was found by chance on Sunday by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion on a training flight, about 110km west of the Chatham Islands, 17 days after he set sail from Tauranga.

There was no sign of Mr van Rensburg but his dog, Juanita, was still on board.

The yacht today underwent forensic examination in the Chathams.

"Really it's just a good search of the boat, lots of photos, videos, just searching the boat looking for clues and checking out the equipment and seeing what's working and what's not, Chatham Islands Constable Kane Haerewa told NZPA.

The examination was complete "to a certain extent" but maritime authorities could request more information, he said.

Mr Haerewa said it was still not clear what happened to Mr van Rensburg but the yacht's GPS could provide vital information.

"That's really the big clue that we're hoping to get some information out of, because really that could tell us when he's possibly gone off course and how long he's been drifting and all that sort of stuff," he said.

Mr Haerewa said the yacht had a lot of safety equipment, including safety harnesses.

"There's safety harnesses there but we don't know what he (Mr van Rensburg) was wearing, that's the problem when someone goes out by themselves."

Mr Haerewa has been looking after "shaken" retriever-cross Juanita and would continue to care for her until Mr van Rensburg's family reached the Chathams.

"I'd say she's in good condition, she's had a walk and she's running around and she's been for a drive in the car, she's loving it. She's pretty happy," he said.

Juanita had access to plenty of food and water on the yacht but may have been lonely, he said.

"I think she was pretty shaken. I think she might have been a bit lonely, that probably was the biggest thing, missing her master."

Members of Mr van Rensburg's family were travelling to the Chathams from South Africa and the United States, and would decide what would happen to Juanita and the yacht.

Friend Warwick Gowland today told NZPA that Mr van Rensburg could still be alive and a core group of six would continue to search.

They were planning to check "every bit of land area" using boats, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

He said their plan to continue searching wasn't an emotional response.

"It is because in the first place we believed Paul and the boat could be found. The RCCNZ (Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand) had basically washed their hands of it and said that the boat wasn't going to be found because it was out of their area, and we were right -- the boat was found, so that's part of our push for carrying on, because we know we're right."

But RCCNZ mission coordinator Geoff Lunt rejected any criticism of the search.

"We carried out a very extensive and exhaustive search and based that on the information we had at the time."

Inquiries into the vessel's location had been exhausted, he said.

Mr Lunt said RCCNZ's role was "effectively over" and it would not take any further action, including a search of nearby islands, without new information.

"Indications are that's he's fallen overboard quite some time back, because of the state of the sails, and based on that we have no information at all that we can start a search with."

- NZPA