Dubai, December 02: Five British yachtsmen, who are being detained by Teheran for trespassing, were 73 miles away from the Iranian coastline when they were captured, shipping experts say.
The five, who were sailing to Dubai from Bahrain, were caught by Iranian authorities around the island of Abu Mousa, said Toby Haws, a senior coordinator for Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. “They decided to take a northerly tact from Bahrain, while most people tend to keep far south – as far away from Iran waters as possible,” said Haws, whose organisation had been in contact with the vessel’s support crew in Bahrain.
“Whether technical difficulties on board then resulted in them being blown into Iranian waters is not clear,” he said.
“Perhaps they hadn’t read the shipping manuals well enough and didn’t know that the area they were sailing into belonged to Iran.”
The crew members have been named as Oliver Smith, 31, Oliver Young, 21, Sam Usher, Luke Porter, 21 and David Bloomer.
The yacht, the Kingdom of Bahrain, was due to take part in the Dubai to Muscat race, organised by the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club.
–Agencies