On January 8, 2003, the Taiwanese-owned, Indonesian-flagged fishing trawler High Aim 6 was found drifting off the coast of Western Australia, near Rowley Shoals.
The vessel had left the port of Liuchiu, Taiwan more than two months earlier, and had last been in contact with her owner in December 2002.
Royal Australian Navy officers who boarded her found the engine running and the propellers turning, but no crew aboard. Three tonnes of tuna and mackerel had been rotting in the hold for up to two weeks.
One Indonesian crew member was later traced and claimed the captain and engineer had been killed, and that the surviving crew had abandoned the ship and made their way home. No further details were ever confirmed.
The trawler leaves southern Taiwan for a long-line fishing voyage, flying an Indonesian flag.
Owner Tsai Huang Shueh-er speaks with the ship's captain for the final time.
The High Aim 6 is spotted adrift off Broome, Western Australia, with her engine running and no one visibly aboard.
Royal Australian Navy officers board the trawler and find her crewless, with fuel, food, and personal belongings still aboard.
An Indonesian crew member is located and alleges the captain and engineer were murdered, though the full circumstances are never established.
The High Aim 6 carried a Taiwanese captain and engineer along with several Indonesian crew members; seven toothbrushes were found aboard.
Master of the High Aim 6, reported by a surviving crew member to have been killed in December 2002.
The vessel's engineer, also reported killed alongside the captain.
Several Indonesian crew members were aboard; only one was ever located and questioned by investigators.
The trawler's engine and propellers were still running when boarded, though the fuel tanks were only half full.
Three tonnes of tuna and mackerel had been rotting in the hold for up to two weeks after the freezer failed.
Seven toothbrushes and the crew's personal effects were left behind, along with large stores of canned food.
No lifeboats or life rafts were found aboard, and no signs of a struggle were detected.
The only crew member ever traced alleged the captain and engineer were murdered, suggesting a mutiny aboard the vessel.
Some investigators considered the possibility that the ship was boarded by pirates in the weeks after her last contact with her owner.
Early fears that the vessel was carrying undocumented migrants were dismissed once the hold was found to contain only fishing cargo.