Norway At Sea - Nth Atlantic Ocean *The Lady Domina & 5 Crew *Mar-April 2013

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FigTree

FigTree

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Missing At Sea - North Atlantic - 31 Mar 13 - 15 May 2013 - The 'Lady Domina' Cruising Yatch & 5 Crew members were sailing from St Martins to The Azores

Note: The Captain (and 2 crew members) was from Norway, and the Yatch Lady Domina was on her way home to Norway. The craft went missing in the North Atlantic - the Gulf Area South of the USA.


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Craft: 73 foot sailboat Cruiser
Name: Lady Domina
Country of Registration: South Africa
Prior to Disappearance: 15years cruising Caribbean




On the 31st of March 2013 a 75’ motor-cruiser Lady Domina left St Martins and was on its way to The Azores. She has been cruising in the Caribbean for some years. When she left St Martins she was well stocked with food and supplies, enough to last 6 months.

Media Report from undiasinfronteras.com
On April 24th, 2013, an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was triggered. Another yatch - Grain de Soleil was apparently in serious trouble in the North Atlantic Ocean. According to reports, the yacht had encountered a huge storm and was sunk. The Grain de Soleil was only a few miles from where the Lady Domina should have been if she had gone straight to the Azores.
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Unlike the Grain de Soleil, the Lady Domina didn’t carry an EPIRB.
Nor did she have a shortwave radio which would have allowed a long distance distress call to be made.
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The Lady Domina was crewed by 3 Norwegians, including the captain, 1 Dane and a British female (5 persons on board in total).

Details of the Crew
sailingsavoirfaire ... Read More:


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Brian Fritzner
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Anders Mosteid
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Kati Lee
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Stian Abrahamsan
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(No Picture currently available)

Captain Oyvind Slettvold
Not a lot is known about. He is clearly a wonderful craftsman, and he is described as being 'very sweet'. He also has the reputation of being an experienced and skillful captain.


Timeline: 2013
March 31st - Lady Domina departs Marigot Bay St Martins for San Juan PR - final destination Oslo, Norway.
April 2nd - the Lady Domina may have been in Guadalupe (unconfirmed/disputed/false)
April 5th - Lady Domina was confirmed "checking out" of Puerto Rico on route to Azores - The captain of the Lady Domina may have been thinking about Puerto Rico to pick up a potential crew-member.
5th May - overheard on VHF May 5, near San Juan asking for weather information
15th May - Lady Domina Report Missing in Press Release



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Just putting this here - from NAMUS

UID - NamUs UP # 11578
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/11578

No_photo
ME/C Case Number: 13-05741

Femur located on shoreline.
18 to 99 year old Male

Date found: July 10, 2013 10:40
Date created: September 06, 2013 08:18



Location Found - Assateague Island State Park, Berlin, Maryland


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To add to a finding in the above location - which maybe related to the fima bone found...

NAMUS:
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/11396
Found: GPS coordinates 38 13.801'N; 75 8.361'W
Assateague Island State Park

Recovered:
Skeletonized foot recovered from water at Assateague Island State Park. Awaiting DNA analysis to determine if related to UP 11578. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/11578
Shoe: Banax brand Strike Point boot - black and gray in color.

20536


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I just made a post about the same subject Figs, but it got lost - I was wondering if it has been possible to obtain DNA samples for any of the missing crew, and if Namus would be willing to list them?

If I recollect correctly, there were some bones washed up on a FL Beach, late last year. I don't know if they could possibly be connected with this case.
 
website links to information regarding the Lady Domina and Crew:

Norweigan Blog:
http://www.sorgenfri.com/profiles/b...0410:Comment:75864&xg_source=msg_com_blogpost

Sailing Savoir Faire
http://sailingsavoirfaire.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/forensic-search-for-lady-domina-mystery.html

St. Martin to the Azores: SY Lady Domina still overdue/missing
http://www.noonsite.com/General/Med...e-azores-sy-lady-domina-still-overdue-missing

Lady Domina Dominating Mystery In Caribbean
http://www.undiasinfronteras.com/2013/06/10/lady-domina-dominating-mystery-in-caribbean/

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A life raft was found in the Lady Domina Search Area:
sailingsavoirfaire - Read More...
The cruise ship Eurodam came across an orange life raft floating within the search grid where the Lady Domina, a 75 foot home-built motorsailer, may have disappeared. A passenger aboard the ship took a picture of the raft. At the time no one knew the Lady Domina was overdue. No effort was made to retrieve the raft or put a boat into the water to check the raft.
Click to expand...

raft+found.jpg



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zwiebel said:
I just made a post about the same subject Figs, but it got lost - I was wondering if it has been possible to obtain DNA samples for any of the missing crew, and if Namus would be willing to list them?

If I recollect correctly, there were some bones washed up on a FL Beach, late last year. I don't know if they could possibly be connected with this case.
Click to expand...

:seeya:
I am trying to get a little further Profile information on the crew as we speak. I also suggested NAMUS submissions.
Hopefully that can happen.

The other thing is the other yacht - “Grain de Soleil” who also has a crew of 3 missing (which sunk) - was supposedly in the vicinity of the Lady Domina. The GdS has not been found either.
Wreckage has been found in the area - but had been difficult to determine if it was from either craft.

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zwiebel said:
This is what I was thinking of. I remembered because I found the photo a little shocking.

http://m.wpbf.com/news/human-bone-found-on-local-beach/23680902
Click to expand...

Thanks zwiebel!
That article was updated on Dec 29, 2013 - Florida
I wonder when the original date was - or when the fima was found.
I wonder if it was put into the NAMUS database?

David Doerr and Connie Moore have lived in Tequesta for about two years. They said they have never found anything like the bone before. They said they were looking for shells Friday morning and came across a human leg bone.
Click to expand...
Read more:

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The dating says that the remains may be 2012-2011 - but just placing it here in case.
Date found: November 23, 2013

Recovered from the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island.
GPS coordinates: 40*20.955 & 72*48.293
(I tried these coordinates but couldn't get a location)
Male
Minimum age: 23 years
Maximum age: 57 years
Height: 69 inches estimated

NAMUS: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/11845?page=circumstances

21651
21650
 
I was just doing a bit of sleuthing regarding items which has washed ashore over the last couple of years - shoes have been one thing that have some coverage when it comes to finding missing people.

When rubber trainers began to wash up on the beaches of the coast of British Columbia in Canada and Washington State in the U.S - a team was put together to get some answers - one thing they discovered:
The only reason the victims’ feet survived is that they were all wearing rubber-soled shoes like trainers, which fish are unable to chew through.
Click to expand...

Read more: Daily Mail.

So I learnt something today.
And in addition - people who have been lost at sea can be identified 25 years after they have disappeared.

...finally identified - 25 years after it was found.
Fisherman Stefan Zahorujko’s boat overturned on January 5th 1987 off the coast of Vancouver but his body was never found. Tests on the sock with bones that was discovered and an investigation proved it was him.
Click to expand...
 
The yacht was the Cheeki Rafiki.

I'm torn about starting a separate thread....the cases and searches are so similar.
 
zwiebel said:
The yacht was the Cheeki Rafiki.

I'm torn about starting a separate thread....the cases and searches are so similar.
Click to expand...

Hmmm - maybe we need a Missing at Sea section.
I was just over at the BBC world news when I saw the link for the missing UK yacht.
There is an interview with the US Coastguard about the search.
The circumstances are very similar - the wind, the waves - the life raft escape and the sinking of the yacht.
Such devestating news that the search has been called off :(

I also wanted to place a link for the Grain de Soleil and her crew - Guillaume Moussette, Etienne Esteuelle, and Franck Cousin - who went missing in the same area as the Lady Domina.
 
I have just received an email from a gentleman who had started a website blog to help with information regarding the Lady Domina and her Crew when they went missing.
I wont post his name here, but I will post some of the email - and the link to more information on the Cruisers Forum.

If he is looking over the thread here - I thank him for such a swift response to my inquiry and the information he has given.
Cheers!


18th May 2014

To: FigTree (my real name removed)

I think all humanly possible has been done in this case but still with a few un-answered questions.
We also had a thread on Cruisers Forum with inputs from the US and the Caribbean.
We only know for sure that she left St.Martin destined for Norway,but we have a report from the US Coastguard
that she cleared out from Puerto Rico 4-5 days later,but they had no record of her arrival details?
We also had a report from a US sailboat reporting overhearing a VHF conversation between LD and the Puerto
Rico Coastguard asking for weather forecast almost a month later? Did she make a trip somewhere before she
set course for Norway?
The boat was self constructed in grp and quite heavy,looking more like a motor sailer. The captain had in an
earlier conversation shown some concerns about a leak in the propellor shaft. Do´nt know if this was attended to.
The skipper,after a few years sailing in the Caribbean and running some unsuccessful ventures with a floating
drydock,gathered ALL his equipment on board,including heavy welding equipment and tools for his homeward
journey to Norway where he had also invested in a fish breading company near Aalesund.
The boat was poorly equipped with safety equipment and did not have AIS or satellite rescue beacon,only an
old rubber dinghy stowed on the foredeck. She had a stout pair of davits from which a plast dinghy plus an old
rescue raft purchased earlier from a passenger ship,presumably not certified. The wheight and stress on the
davits with the dinghy plus the heavy rescue raft cannister must not have been good bucking up and down in a heavy
head sea. The cockpit cover and large windows were made of thin material. From a photo shortly before
departure it appeared that ALL the safety rails around the deck had been removed,do´nt know if they were replaced.
The captain was experienced from several Atlantic passages and so were other members of the crew.
His UK girlfriend had been working as a crew member on several US sailboats and was unfortunately also pregnant.
Her father,also a sailor,was at the time of the event cruising near Panama.
I can only presume the boat broke up in the heavy seas somewhere in the Atlantic and took them all to the bottom.
Strange that no traces or bodies were ever reported.

Best regards
Capt.________ - Brazil
Click to expand...


To read more regarding the Missing Lady Domina and her Crew
CRUISERS FORUM
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f121/missing-75-s-y-lady-domina-103028.html

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I can only presume the boat broke up in the heavy seas somewhere in the Atlantic and took them all to the bottom.
Strange that no traces or bodies were ever reported.
Click to expand...

I am also at a loss as to why nothing was found of the boat - nor of the 5 crew members. The air search did find some debris, but it was never identified as from the Lady Domina.


For%C3%A7a-A%C3%A9rea1.jpg



I am also very sad to hear that of Kati Lee's pregnancy - I did not know this.

I will catch up on the story from the Cruisers Forum.

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Fig Tree & Zweibel, you both are amazing. I've been lurking on Websleuths for a while. I've made a few posts but want to be able to really help out. I learn a lot by reading the posts of others, especially from members such as yourselves. I just wanted to send a big THANK YOU to you both. You deserve so much more.
 
Just bookmarking


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hoping for news.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2
 
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