Forensic Search For Lady Domina A Mystery

On March 31st, crewmembers aboard a 75 foot yacht called Lady Domina set sail from St. Martin in the Caribbean for Norway with a planned stop in the Azores.  No one has seen the yacht since.  The forensic search for the yacht yields nothing but conflicting information and mysteries.

Lady Domina

Conflicting route and time schedules confuse

From the outset, statements by the captain and the first mate over both the route and the time the trip would take conflict with statements made to the rest of the crew.  The boat's owner and builder, Oyvind Slettvold (Oevind Slettvold) and his first mate Kati Lee, said the trip could take up to two months and the route would be through Puerto Rico in private conversations.  

The crew thought the huge sailboat would head to Norway directly and not go through Puerto Rico.  It was to take 14 days to the Azores, with another 15 to 16 days to Norway.

Brian Fritzner

Brian Fritzner, a/k/a Brian Fritznersgate according to VG Net, who is a friend of the boat's owner, told his wife he would be home by May 5th at the latest to take a required examination and to celebrate the birthday of the light of his life, his 6 year old son.   In his last communication home, Brian wrote:

"We travel on approx. 3 days, contact you when

we get to the Azores, a trip of 15-16 days"

Anders Mosteid, a Norwegian youth who answered an advertisement on the classifieds web site Finn.NO, for crew wanted, also said the trip to the Azores should have taken about 15 days.

Anders Mosteid

Conflicting media reports Confuse

In fact, based upon initial reports by a publication called NRK, it is not even clear who was the captain of the 75 foot custom made motor sailor.  According to NRK, Stian Abrahamsen from Kristiansand, was listed as the captain.  In other publications, Abrahamsen was listed as a citizen from England.

Kritiansand is in Norway, not England.  Most people presumed the ship's owner and builder Oyvind Slettvold, would captain the boat he built by hand with Brian Fritznersgate as a helper.  On later investigation, it appeared the early reports by NRK were reckless and served to confuse people when news of the disappearance first swept the community. 

Stian Abrahamsen, Marigot Bay
File photo superimposed

Some facts very clear

A few things were clear about Lady Domina.  Both Keith Chipping and Hele Kaspersen, Brian Fritznersgate wife, are positive the yacht left Marigot Bay on the island of St. Martin on March 31st.  They are both positive the boat was scheduled for 14 to 16 days, give or take a little.  

When the boat was roughly 30 days out on it's stated 15 day trip,Abrahamsen's parents became concerned.  At the same time,Helle Kaspersen also began to voice her concerns.  She began contacting officials who eventually put her in touch with the appropriate search and rescue authorities.

 Prior to joining Lady Domina, Abrahamsen had been boat sitting on the Coral IV, owned by Otto K. Blix Hulbak.  Hulbak put a note on the bulletin board of a Norwegian yachting publication called Sorgenfri.com.  

Katie Audrey Lee

Otto Hulbak said:

"When we were in St Lucia for Arcen this year, we met a guy named Stian. We agreed that he would stay in our boat SY Coral IV, while we were at home in Norway. When we got back to St. Lucia around 1 March, (we found) Stian aboard Lady Domina, a 73 foot sailboat that )was hand) built - in what we understand - has been about 15 years in the Caribbean with Øyvind Slettvold as skipper. (On)  the 31 March (Lady Domina) sailed from Guadeloupe, bound for the Azores. From what I understand, there were two people in addition to Stian.

 Auto Hulbak

"Now Lady Domina (has) been at sea for nearly a

month, and parents to Stian (are) starting to get worried. I was contacted by the rescue coordination center with the question if I knew anything about (how) Lady Domina was fitted. I did not - but

promised to send some probes into the sailing

community."

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