Diane Coetzer, the spokesperson for the families of the three sailors, said: “We have just had word from Samsa [SA Maritime Safety Authority] that the Peridot has reached the hull. They are doing an assessment on how to bring it to port. We have not been told which port.”

Coetzer’s comments follow an earlier statement by National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, that NSRI Agulhas duty crew launched a sea rescue craft at 3.30pm on Saturday and on arrival at the scene, 42 nautical miles offshore of Cape Agulhas, photographed the upturned hull. Rescue swimmers free-dived to investigate markings and as much as could be investigated under the hull. NSRI could not positively identify her as the Sunsail, he said.

No physical markings were found on the catamaran to help identify her and photographs had been sent to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC), for the family of the missing crew and the catamaran’s owners to investigate further.

NSRI Agulhas attached a satellite tracking beacon to the catamaran which the MRCC would monitor to keep track of the position of the hull until Smit Amandla’s tug Peridot arrived at the scene to attempt to tow the catamaran to an appropriate port.

Telkom Maritime Radio Services had broadcast a maritime navigational warning to warn ships in the area of the navigational hazard, Lambinon said.

The catamaran Sunsail RC044-978 set out from Cape Town for a delivery trip to Phuket, Thailand, on December 14, 2014.

The crew of the Sunsail – South Africans Anthony Murray, Reg Robertson, and Jaryd Payne – was last heard from on January 18 last year.

The crew’s families reported their failure to arrive at their destination on February 12 last year.

Coetzer, who is Murray’s sister-in-law, said that based on the photographs, the families were fairly certain that it was the hull of the Sunsail.

She said that a full statement would be issued once there was more information and the hull had been brought to port.