Missing Israeli yacht found after frantic Mediterranean search

For much of the morning, radar sweeps and visual searches yielded nothing, raising fears the yacht might have been pushed far off course or suffered serious damage.

By World Israel News Staff

A major search-and-rescue operation in the eastern Mediterranean took a dramatic turn on Wednesday after authorities succeeded in reestablishing contact with an Israeli yacht that had vanished for nearly two days after departing Ashdod last week.

The disappearance of the vessel, carrying two Israeli couples in their fifties, had sparked deep concern among rescue teams, who warned that severe weather and dwindling daylight were making the search increasingly difficult. The yacht’s last known position had been logged roughly 90 nautical miles off the coast of Paphos on Monday, when its transmitter abruptly stopped sending signals and no distress call followed.

Cyprus intensified the hunt at dawn Wednesday, deploying helicopters, diverting ships under the Nearchos protocol, and coordinating with British patrol assets on the island as Storm Byron continued to churn the eastern Mediterranean with strong winds and rough seas. For much of the morning, radar sweeps and visual searches yielded nothing, raising fears the yacht might have been pushed far off course or suffered serious damage.

But shortly afterward, Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed a breakthrough: the Israeli maritime Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) managed to reestablish communication with the missing vessel. According to the ministry, RCC personnel succeeded by relaying through a nearby ship, the FUGRO VENTURER, which located the yacht and contacted its crew. The vessel is now making its way back toward Israel.

Initial checks indicate the yacht was never in distress but had simply lost all communication capability, leaving rescue authorities blind to its location.

Before contact was restored, Israeli officials said the passengers had originally intended to sail to Crete but diverted toward Cyprus as weather worsened. Heavy rain, fierce winds and rough seas from Storm Byron severely complicated both their route and the search effort. Because the yacht carries almost no radar signature, rescue teams had been relying almost entirely on visual spotting, an extremely difficult task in stormy conditions.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that forces from Israel, Greece and Cyprus had been coordinating throughout the search, with the ministry’s department for Israelis abroad and Israel’s embassies in Nicosia and Athens remaining in close contact with the families.

RCC Larnaca, which led the multinational operation before communications were restored, had earlier expanded the search radius and urged civilian ships to avoid the area due to hazardous conditions.

With the vessel now found and returning safely, the emergency phase of the operation is expected to wind down, bringing relief to officials who had described the effort as a race against worsening weather.