Mummified mariner Manfred Bajorat's ghost boat was discovered at sea nearly four weeks before he was found dead on board as it drifted off the coast of the Philippines.
American coastguard officials were first informed after a crew members of a racing yacht first saw the mast-less vessel January 31.
But nothing was done between then and the discovery by fishermen on February 25 of his boat Sayo.
The mummified body of Manfred Fritz Bajorat, 59, was discovered by two fishermen aboard his yacht in the Pacific Ocean 40 miles off the coast of Barobo town in Surigao del Sur
A yacht crew reported seeing Manfred Bajorat's vessel on January 31, but U.S. coastguard officials did not follow up on the report, and it took nearly a month before his body was found in the Philippines
By that time Bajorat had drifted more than 1,000 nautical miles with him becoming increasingly mummified by warm salty air.
The crew of the ocean sailing yacht LMAX Exchange - a deep sea boat belonging to the regatta Clipper Round the World - sighted the Sayo when it was involved in a competition.
In the online logbook of the crew it says: 'After the sighting of a yacht with a broken mast, the LMAX Exchange interrupted the race at 6:24.'
The LMAX team immediately informed the U.S. Coast Guard in Guam. Three hours and six minutes later the LMAX Exchange was granted permission by the US authorities to continue the race.
What happened then is unclear but media reports in Germany said Nina, daughter of 59-year-old Bajorat, informed in her hometown of Hamburg about the sighting and probable death of her father.
Tragic: Authorities are trying to establish the last days of German national Mr Bajorat, who left a tribute to his late wife, Claudia, on a shipping forum
A picture taken shortly after the discovery shows Filipino fishermen recovering Mr Bajorat's drifting yacht in the seas off Barobo town in Surigao del Sur province, Philippines
Mystery: Mr Bajorat's body was found near to the radio telephone as if he was trying one last desperate Mayday call to save himself when he died
The boat was allowed to drift on until fisherman boarded it 40 miles from the northern coast of the Philippines on February 25.
The photo of adventurer Manfred, a former insurance salesman who gave up his landlubber life for adventure on the high seas, went around the world.
His hand seemed to be reaching for a radio telephone as if her were making one last desperate bid to send a Mayday message.
At first it was feared he may have fallen prey to pirates but an autopsy showed he had died of a heart attack. How long he had been dead remains unclear.
He had been sailing along since the death of his wife Claudia, 53, in 2010. He buried her on the Caribbean island of Martinique - the place where, it is understood, he too will be laid to rest when the police probe into the tragedy is completed.
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