The mummified body of a German sailor was discovered a month earlier – but allowed to drift for 300 miles before being re-discovered.

An autopsy initially concluded that Manfred Fritz Bajorat had only been ᴅᴇᴀᴅ for a week when his corpse was discovered inside his yacht off the coast of the Phillippines on the last weekend of February.

But in a shocking new twist to the mystery, video footage emerged today showing a yacht race crew finding Manfred Fritz Bajorat’s stricken boat floating 400 miles from land on January 31.

Despite the US Coast Guard, the German Embᴀssy in London, German police and even the sailor’s family all being notified of the discovery, it appears boat was somehow allowed to drift for another four weeks at sea.

Bajorat’s mummified corpse was rediscovered by Filipino fishermen at the end of February, nearly 40 miles from the coast of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean.

The revelations cast fresh doubt on an autopsy report suggesting he had died just a week before his body was rediscovered almost two weeks ago – as well as raising the possibility that crucial evidence may have been lost in that time.

The sailor was first found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ by the LMAX Exchange crew who were taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race between Australia and Vietnam.

Skipper of the LMAX crew Olivier Cardin said: “In the spirit of the Clipper Race and the crew of team LMAX Exchange, we put the racing aside in the hope of ᴀssisting the stricken vessel and any fellow sailors marooned.

“After boarding the drifting vessel, we unfortunately discovered the body of a lone sailor. We remained on site, under instruction, until released by the USCG who continued with the recovery.

“As a team we found comfort that he was found and that peace will be given to his friends and family who have been looking for him.

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“Our words and thoughts were shared for the sailor as he now rests in peace.”

A spokeswoman for the Clipper Race said “out of respect” they chose not to publicise what the crew had found after they had stopped racing – hoping to “avoid causing unnecessary alarm within the international sailing community”.

“As a company we also felt it was inappropriate to create a news story out of such tragic circumstances, plus the experience was quite distressing for the crew member who went aboard, who does not wish to talk publicly about it,” the spokeswoman added.

“We feel desperately saddened for Mr Bajorat’s family, who have now been subjected to the publication of graphic images. Our thoughts remain as ever with them.”

In the video, the 40ft Sayo is seen floating unmanned through choppy waters, it’s sail broken.

One man wearing a body camera dives into the sea and swims over to the seemingly abandoned vessel.

As he looks inside the cabin he calls into the boat and asks: “nobody on board?”

He then recoils as he puts his head inside and shouts, in English, “Oh f***!”

When Bojorat was discovered by fishermen in February, the 59-year-old adventurer was so mummified it was initially thought he pᴀssed away as many as seven years ago after setting sail across the world.

But a startling autopsy report found that he actually died from a heart attack around a week before he was found.

“The cause of death is acute myocardial infarction based on the autopsy by (the) regional crime laboratory,” national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor said.

Quoting a police statement, he added: “The German national is estimated to have been ᴅᴇᴀᴅ for more or less seven days.”

But this new evidence proves Bojorat had been ᴅᴇᴀᴅ for at least a month before the autopsy was conducted.

Manfred was discovered hunched over a table on the ghost vessel.

The body was sat close to the ship’s radio telephone, as if he was trying to make on last desperate mayday call.

Last month haunting images emerged showing pH๏τographs that were rescued from the yacht, which give an insight into the life Manfred left behind.

The sailor was found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ alongside a pH๏τo album and a tragic final message he had penned to his ᴅᴇᴀᴅ wife.

The pictures by his corpse show happy moments in his former life.

They tell the story of a young family’s travels, including Luxembourg and “a weekend in Kirchhundem”.

In the images, a baby plays on the beach, a young woman sits in sunshine under the Eiffel Tower and a dad gazes proudly at a toddler.

Meanwhile, the note to Manfred’s wife read: “Thirty years we’re been together on the same path. Then the power of the demons was stronger than the will to live.

“You’re gone. May your soul find its peace. Your Manfred.”

Manfred and Claudia are thought to have broken up in 2008.

She then died of cancer two years later while in Martinique.

He is not thought to have seen another person face to face since 2009, and been sailing across the world alone since then.

the Mirror has contacted the US Coast Guard and the German Embᴀssy in London for comment.