A
yacht which has been drifting around the world for several years has
been found with the dead body of the adventurer siting right in front of
his desk.
Manfred Fritz Bajorat was recovered inside a drifting yacht in the seas off Surigao del Sur province, Philippines
The mummified body of a German adventurer has been discovered on
his abandoned yacht which silently drifted around the world for years.
According to Mirror Online, the adventurer, Manfred Fritz Bajorat,
59, was found by two fishermen at the weekend off the coast of the
Philippines. His body was discovered near the radio telephone on the
40ft yacht called Sayo, as if he was trying one last desperate mayday
call.
It is not clear how long he had been dead and for how many years
his yacht had been drifting, but no reported sightings of him have been
mentioned since 2009.
Inside the cabin were found photo albums, clothes and tins of food strewn all over the interior.
He was floating nearly 40 miles from the coast of the Philippines
in the Pacific Ocean when the fishermen spotted the drifting vessel and
boarded it.
The mast was broken and much of the cabin was underwater, but what killed the skipper is unclear.
Dry ocean winds, hot temperatures and the salty air helped preserve
his body. He was identified by paperwork found on the vessel.
Manfred Fritz Bajorat
It is unclear how long he has been dead. Police are trying to
retrace his last voyages and find the last people to speak with him.
He broke up with his wife in 2008, who had been on his travels with him, and she later died from cancer.
In 2009 in Mallorca he met another world sailer called Dieter who told Germany's BILD newspaper: "He was a very experienced sailor. I don't believe he would have sailed into a storm. I believe the mast broke after Manfred was already dead."
His body was taken for an autopsy in Butuan City, the yacht was towed for a police inspection into the port of Barobo.
Police spokeswoman Goldie Lou Siega in the Philippines said; "We have no evidence of a second person aboard and no weapon was found on the yacht."
Dr Mark Benecke, a forensic criminologist in the city of Cologne, told BILD: "The way he is sitting seems to indicate that death was unexpected, perhaps from a heart attack."
The German embassy in Manila is working with local officials to trace his family in Germany.
It is believed he has a daughter called Nina who works as the captain of a freight vessel.
