Was British yachtsman murdered by crewmate? Sailor vanished in Indian Ocean

By Dan Newling for MailOnline

Published: 12:42 EST, 29 July 2012 | Updated: 10:29 EST, 30 July 2012

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Police in the Seychelles are investigating the disappearance of a British round-the-world yachtsman who vanished in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Sean Terry, 48, vanished while piloting his yacht from the paradise islands of the Maldives to Madagascar during a round-the-world sailing trip.

The only other person on board - Austrian scuba diving instructor Stefan Pokorny - has been arrested in connection with Mr Terry’s disappearance.

Sean Terry worked as quantity surveyor in Watford before retiring early to sail his 40ft yacht Finnegan around the world.

He was last heard from on 18 June, soon after he and sole crewmate Pokorny, 36, left the remote Chagos islands en route for Madagascar.

Seven days later Pokorny piloted the yacht into the small coral island of Coetivy, part of the Seychelles archipelago, alone.

According to a spokesman for Mr Terry’s distraught family, the Austrian told local police that Mr Terry had 'jumped overboard' in what he apparently claimed was a 'fit of anger'.

But police remain suspicious that the yacht’s 'man overboard' alert button was not pushed - and nor did Pokorny seem to have adequately sought help from nearby shipping, the spokesman said.

Today spokesman, Judith Middleton, said: 'Sean had given no indication of wanting to commit suicide at all.

'Indeed, he had recently sent emails to his family in which he talked about how much he was looking forward to meeting up with them soon.”

'Sean’s family are in turmoil. They simply don’t believe that he committed suicide, nor can they understand why Pokorny didn’t do more to help.

'It appears that little if anything was done to attempt to save Sean and we cannot understand this.

'After all, this man is meant to be a highly experienced diver. Why on earth did he not try dive in and rescue Sean? Or at least do more to get help.”

Mrs Middleton also revealed that some of Mr Terry’s items, including two laptop computers, are missing from the boat.

The ship’s logbook, in which its captain is obliged to note down any problems, has also disappeared, she said.

Mr Terry was born in the UK but grew up in South Africa. He returned to Britain to work as a quantity surveyor for the engineering firm Edmund Nuttall.

However, he got bored of corporate life and ten years ago bought a boat in which he sailed around the world, something he usually did single-handedly.

He is unmarried and has no children. At the time of his disappearance he had split from a woman he had met while sailing, but the split was amicable and he was in the process of arranging to meet up with her again, the family spokesman said.

Mr Terry’s disappearance occurred just as he was coming to the end of a complete circumnavigation of the globe.

Having travelled west from Europe, he is believed to have teamed up with Pokorny in Sri Lanka. The plan, Mr Terry emailed his family to say, was that the pair would scuba dive together in the Indian Ocean’s warm, clear waters.

Mr Terry told his family he was excited about the prospect of scuba diving but was also looking forward to joining them in Cape Town, South Africa for Christmas.

Having sailed from Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then onto the remote Chagos, Terry and Pokorny set off together for Madagascar on the 14th of June.

Initially they travelled alongside an Italian-owned yacht, called the Alice, whose crew last had radio contact with the pair on 18th June.

The point at which this last radio contact was made was about 300 miles west of the Chagos islands, roughly a quarter of the way to Madagascar.

This point is so remote that the nearest continental land masses, India and Africa, are both over 1,500 miles away.

Seven days after she last made radio contact with the Alice, Pokorny steered the Finnegan into harbour on the island of Coetivy off the coast of the Seychelles on 25th June.

The Austrian reported Mr Terry missing, telling the harbour authorities that he fell over overboard.

Pokorny is due to appear in court in the Seychelles’ capital Victoria this Thursday, although it is unclear what charges, if any, he may face.

A spokesman for the Seychelles’ Attorney General said: 'We can confirm that a man is being held in custody but the case is still open and all possible explanations are being investigated by the Seychelles Police regarding the disappearance of Sean Terry.'

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'We are aware of dual British/South African citizen who went missing near the Seychelles and are providing consular assistance to the family.'

VIDEO: A tribute made by a friend shows Sean Terry in 2006 

Watch the full video here