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Fears Mount for Missing Israeli Yacht Crew as Search Intensifies Off Cyprus Coast
The yacht's small size makes it vulnerable, but experts note no satellite phone means potential isolation, not catastrophe. Families cling to updates, while the operation presses on.
A multinational armada of rescue vessels and aircraft scoured the storm-lashed eastern Mediterranean today (Wednesday), racing against worsening weather to locate a 11-meter Israeli yacht that vanished with five people aboard, four Israelis and an experienced skipper, just short of Cyprus's shores.
Contact was severed Monday evening, roughly 65-89 nautical miles southwest of Paphos, amid the ferocious advance of Storm Byron, which has already pummeled Greece and Cyprus with 100 km/h gusts, torrential downpours, and towering waves before slamming into Israel.
The yacht, a modest private vessel (11 meters long, 3 meters wide) registered in Israel, departed Ashdod Port last Sunday for what was billed as a leisure cruise toward Crete via Cyprus.
Aboard were two Israeli couples in their 50s from the northern Arab town of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam, plus the veteran skipper – all presumed alive but unaccounted for, with no distress signal ever transmitted.
Hatem Shibli, head of the local council, told Haaretz the community is "anxious and praying for good news," adding: "We don't know why contact was lost, our whole town is holding its breath."
Cypriot maritime authorities, leading the operation from Paphos, have deployed helicopters, patrol boats, and drones across a 200-nautical-mile radius, coordinating with Greek and Israeli teams.
The Israeli Air Force is not directly involved at this stage, per military sources, but the Foreign Ministry's Department for Israelis Abroad is in constant touch with families, alongside embassies in Nicosia and Athens.
A ministry spokesperson confirmed: "Israeli, Greek, and Cypriot forces are collaborating on scans; we're working around the clock."
No wreckage, debris, or signals have surfaced yet, fueling speculation: Weather interference may have jammed the VHF radio or AIS transponder, or the group could have turned back toward Israel to evade Byron's wrath – which peaked in the region with 200mm+ rains and flooded Gaza's tent cities overnight.
Cypriot officials, citing the skipper's decades of experience, urged vessels to steer clear of the area: "This is a race against nature – every hour counts," a maritime spokesman warned.
Byron, a rare December cyclone amplified by climate change, has already diverted Israeli flights over Lebanon and triggered nationwide alerts in Israel for flash floods and 90 km/h winds through Thursday.
Greek rescuers, fresh from Byron's Greek leg (which snapped bridges and isolated villages), flagged the yacht's non-arrival at Crete by 3 p.m. Tuesday, escalating the hunt.