The boat left Airlie Beach on Sunday bound for Townsville on the first leg of a voyage around northern Australia. The 12m (40 foot) catamaran was spotted by a helicopter on Wednesday drifting off the Great Barrier Reef, but a rescue team only reached the boat on Friday, and confirmed that there was no one aboard.

Rescue crews say they are puzzled by the mysterious disappearance. "The engine was running, the computers were running, there was a laptop set up on the table which was running, the radio was working... and there was food and utensils set on the table ready to eat," said Jon Hall, a spokesman for Queensland's Emergency Management office.

"It was a bit strange," he added.

All the vessel's sails were up, although one was badly shredded, and life jackets were still on board.

Mr Hall said rescue workers had recovered the boat's Global Positioning System (GPS) device, which might give them more clues as to the crew's whereabouts.

"That will now enable us to track backwards where this yacht has actually been in the last few days, and we're hoping that can pinpoint the search area for the missing crew," he said.

Australian media reported the names of the sailors as skipper Derek Batten, 56, and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, ages 69 and 63. The three are neighbors in Perth, Western Australia.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the men were planning to sail around northern Australia to Western Australia. Twelve aircraft are now searching for the crew of the boat which is already being dubbed "the ghost yacht".

Since the restoration of Estonian independence, World War II veterans and representatives of the Russian-speaking population have continued to gather at the monument on certain dates like May 9 (Victory Day).The display of Soviet flags and other symbols at these gatherings has irritated Estonian nationalists and other Estonians who have bitter memories of the Soviet regime. This led to a non-violent confrontation of two groups at the monument.

Many Estonians, including many members of Parliament and of the Estonian Government, are in favor of removing the monument the center of Tallinn despite protests by World War II veterans and the Russian-speaking Estonian community. February 15, 2007, The Government approved the Law on Forbidden Structures by 46 votes to 44. This will ban public display of monuments that glorify the Soviet Union or Estonia's fifty years of Bolshevism. The monument itself was specifically mentioned in a clause, and is to be dismantled within 30 days of the President signing it into law.

At this moment 19th April the monument is still standing on Tõnismägi Hill, but few days ago Estonian president gave orders to remove the Bronze Soldier in 2 weeks.