Yacht mystery in busy waters

The Tuila was reported missing on Friday

Rescue teams searching for the Tuila are baffled there have been no reported sightings of the yacht, which was crossing one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Statistics from HM Coastguard show 350 vessels pass through the North Sea every day, with a further 200 ferry journeys made daily between the eastern UK ports and the continent.

A large ship would run into a small yacht without even realising

Mark Clark, HM Coastguard

The statistics do not include leisure craft which are not required to report to the coastguard when passing through the Dover lanes.

Debris thought to be from the yacht - which failed to land at Harwich in Essex on Friday - has been ruled out of the equation.

Ian Jackson, district controller from Thames Coastguard said: "Someone should have seen them. We remain baffled as to the missing yacht's whereabouts."

Collision fears

Spokesman for HM Coastguard Mark Clark told BBC News Online: "With so much shipping in the area, our concern is that it could have been run down.

"A large ship would run into a small yacht without even realising. But if we haven't found any wreckage, that may not have happened."

He added another possibility was that "something totally catastrophic has happened and that it's sunk - which is why there is no wreckage".

The yacht was sailing in a very busy shipping channel

Yachting correspondent Bob Fisher, who has over 60 years sailing experience, said the North Sea was a busy channel and "in the last 10 years has got quite significantly busy".

He told BBC News Online that small craft like the Tuila were very small compared with the shipping in the North Sea. "It is intimidating," he said.

"They don't show they're moving fast and they're on you before you can speak. Anyone inexperienced at following lights - especially at night - might run into problems."

Debris spotted in the North Sea turned out to be nets, boxes and gas bottles from a fishing boat.

Other objects seen floating in the water and thought to be the yacht's red cushions were confirmed as being timber and plastic.

Coastguards have asked Dutch authorities to check all small ports in the country for signs of the boat.

A massive air and sea search will be called off on Tuesday night.