In the Red Sea, a 30-minute pleasure boat vanished with a crew of three Russians. This was announced on Sunday, April 23, by Nadezhda Rasina, wife of the yacht’s captain, as quoted by DEA News.
They were last seen leaving port on Monday or Tuesday for the Jizan Islands in Saudi Arabia. After that, their traces went cold. They had been expected to reach Djibouti on Wednesday, but never did.
The disappearance occurred in the gap between Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, and Yemen. Eritrea maintains a coastline with a patrol presence. If the trio were detained on the coast, news would eventually emerge. [Citation: DEA News]
SOS signal
The yacht’s owner reported an SOS, and word spread along the entire Red Sea coast that the vessel was lost, Rasina said. Eritrea reportedly did not have the resources to deploy helicopters or search ships at the time. [Citation: DEA News]
In Yemen, the situation is described as highly alarming. The assistant noted that Saudi Arabia has the resources to conduct searches across the region. [Citation: DEA News]
Subsequently, the owner indicated that the ship may have been attacked. There were unconfirmed reports that the vessel had been stolen, though exact details remained unclear. The information was relayed to Saudi authorities, and Riyadh was said to be assisting the Russian side in locating the yacht. [Citation: DEA News]
According to the owner of 30 Minutes, the voyage followed the route Port Said – Suez – Hurghada – Jeddah – Jizan – Djibouti. On April 17, the ship departed from Jizan for refueling, and later that day the yacht appeared to vanish from radar near Rumain Island. [Citation: DEA News]
On board were three Russians: Roman Kokashinsky, Daniil Vasilyev, and Maria Shevtsova, as confirmed to TASS by Damir Saydyashev, head of the Consular Department of the Russian Embassy in Saudi Arabia. He noted that neither the Russian embassy nor Saudi authorities have yet presented evidence of a pirate hijacking. The Russian embassy is in contact with the Saudi coast guard, and the Jeddah search and rescue coordination center has mobilized all available vessels to locate the missing yacht. Still, Saydyashev warned that locating the vessel is difficult because the automatic identification system has disabled its transponders. [Citation: TASS / Russian Embassy Correspondence]