Family of missing man in yacht explosion want closure

The family of Lucas Bondezan who went missing after the yacht he was in, exploded some 15 nautical miles on Sept 16, has not given up hope in finding his remains.

Its spokesman, Nicholas Desouza said the family had appealed to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to borrow their sonar equipment to locate the vessel's wreckage and the 24-year-old's remains.

He said the family wanted closure and hoped the RMN would give its fullest assistance.

"I have written to them (RMN) and thank the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for assisting us in getting in touch with the navy," he told a press conference here today.

Desouza said the family had launched its own scuba diving team to locate the wreckage of the yacht after the authorities had called off the search and rescue operation.

"We want to thank the authorities for helping us and for their utmost cooperation. We are not giving up (hope) just yet. The search will continue until we find something and I hope the navy will help us.

"Without the sonar equipment, the team is expected to conduct the search at identified areas where the wreckage might have drifted and expects a minimum duration of about six months.

"With the sonar equipment, the divers only need one month to locate the wreckage and find the (Bondezan's) remains," he added.

Desouza said the family so far, had spent some RM5.5 million for two phases of their own search team comprising professional divers.

According to him, the family, especially Bondezan's mother was still traumatised.

"They have scoured high and low, land and sea until Acheh, Indonesia...they haven't give up yet," he said.

Bondezan was the youngest of two siblings and during the incident, he was on his way from Langkawi to attend an F1 function in Singapore when the boat owned by his brother-in-law, Pascal Vuanh-Quan had exploded mid-sea.

According to Desouza, the yacht was in good condition. The cause of the explosion is still unknown although several abound.

During the incident, three people, including the captain were injured and rescued by local fishermen and taken to the Kuala Kedah jetty.

The three were identified as Siberian Novak Novakovic, 28, Croatian Rudolf Kolic, 61, and Captain Jaroslav Horejsek, 37, of the Czech Republic. -- BERNAMA