- TAIPEI (Reuters) - A mobile
telephone belonging to the missing chief engineer of a ship found abandoned
off Australia has been used to make more than 80 calls from Indonesia,
adding to the mystery over the fate of the crew.
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- Australian police said Tuesday they were baffled by the
discovery of a fishing boat full of rotting fish -- but no crew or life
rafts -- drifting off the remote northwest coast.
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- "Relatives of the chief engineer received an unusually
high phone bill after the ship was reported missing. Phone records show
recent calls were made from Bali, Indonesia," a spokesman from Taiwan's
Fisheries Association said Wednesday.
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- The 65-foot High Aim 6, registered in Taiwan and flying
an Indonesian flag, had 10 Indonesian crew members plus the captain and
chief engineer from Taiwan.
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- A massive search in the area has turned up no survivors,
life rafts or clues, but the presence of up to three tons of rotting mackerel
and tuna in the hold has convinced police the boat was used by fishermen,
not people smugglers.
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- Australian police said conditions on board the ship were
good and the ship appeared well-equipped and seaworthy. In addition, weather
in the area has been calm for weeks.
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