By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines

Four days after a yacht with foreign nationals and a Filipino on board disappeared in the middle of a typhoon, the search continued Wednesday in the waters off the Philippines north.

Europa left Hong Kong on Oct. 1 and is believed to have sunk two days later some 230 nautical miles (426 kilometers) off the coast of the northern province of Ilocos Sur at the height of Typhoon Mujigae.

Coast guard spokesman Commander Arman Balilo told ABS-CBN News that a body and a life jacket had been seen by a plane near the site where the yacht was last spotted.

Traces of oil had also been seen in the water, he added.

Balilo identified the five people on board the yacht as British nationals Robin Wyatt and Brian Turner, American Alan Lundy, Canadian Harry Taylor, and Filipino Rodolf Bolloloz.

Wyatt, Lundy and Taylor are residents of the Philippines while Turner is a resident of Hong Kong, he said.

The yacht was scheduled to sail for the capital Manila but instead veered towards the direction of Ilocos Sur and Subic Bay due to bad weather brought about by Mujigae.

“A Philippine coastguard auxiliary plane… found indications that the yacht sank at the vicinity,” Balilo added.

A Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club statement said the Hong Kong-registered boat was owned by Wyatt, whom it described as a yacht broker and experienced sailor who had hoped to reach the Filipino port of Subic Bay on Monday.

“The boat is new and on board are the skipper Robin Wyatt and four other crew members, all of whom are very experienced seamen; each having crossed the [South] China Sea a number of times,” it added, while underlining that the search would continue Wednesday.

Balilo said the storm had earlier killed three people in the Philippines, while 13 fishermen are still missing.