ABANDONED SCHOONER MYSTERY..NO CREW, A HALF-EATEN MEAL AND PILES OF
CLOTHES
Nick Pisa In Rome

A £300,000 schooner has been found floating empty in the Mediterranean
- echoing the fate of the Marie Celeste over 130 years ago.
The 66ft twin-masted vessel had no name and no other identification
markings.
On board there was a half-eaten meal, maps of the Med, piles of clothes
and a punctured dinghy.

The boat was found drifting off the Sardinian resort of Punta Volpe.
Strong currents were pushing it towards rocks and coastguards boarded
the vessel just in time and towed it to the port of Olbia.

Officials found a plaque with the name Bel Amica but said that initial
checks with shipping registers had found no yacht with that name.
A spokesman said: "It gave the impression of being abandoned very
quickly. It could be piracy, we just don't know."

The original Marie Celeste, which was on a voyage from New York to
Italy, was found empty and drifting off the coast of Portugal in 1872.