A HELENSBURGH man has gone missing while sailing a yacht through the Red Sea, according to national news reports.

Colin Finnie's empty yacht, Simba, is understood to have been found crashed on a reef weeks after it was picked up in Australia.

The Scottish Sun reported on Wednesday that Mr Finnie had planned to sail the yacht home from Christmas Island over a distance of 5,000 miles in time for Christmas.

The BoatWatch website states that the last known contact with Mr Finnie was on Saturday, December 7, when he was about 300 nautical miles away from his destination, and that the 44-foot motor yacht was reported overdue on a passage to Port Ghalib, along the country's Red Sea coast, six days later.

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Mr Finnie's wife is understood to have made an appeal on social media for information, stating that "he was in storms and low on fuel".

His family has not commented publicly on the news reports.

The Foreign Office is believed to be providing support to Mr Finnie's family.

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