In a bid to solve a 60-year-old puzzle, the Australian authorities are searching for the relatives of a Maltese man who perished when HMAS Sydney floundered after colliding with a disguised German vessel in World War II.

According to the newspaper The Australian, an initial bid to establish the identity of a body (the only one to be washed ashore) by DNA testing, has failed. Salvatore Zammit is one of the people who is on the shortlist of possibilities, having served as canteen manager on board the naval vessel.

Only officers and warrant officers were entitled to wear white coveralls but two civilian canteen workers will be considered due to uncertainty as to what they would have been wearing during battle stations.

The body was washed ashore at Christmas Island in February 1942 from the area off Shark Bay where the light cruiser Sydney and disguised German raider Kormoran sank each other. There were 318 Kormoran survivors but the Christmas Island body is the only one found believed to be from the Sydney.

A search is under way for relatives of 13 other prime candidates among 100 of the crew, who have not been excluded on scientific grounds, from the total of 645 killed in November 1941, including those of Mr Zammit. All the Australian authorities know is that they still reside in Malta.

The Minister for Veterans Affairs, Bruce Billson said that tests on relatives of three short-listed men had not produced a match but because useable DNA had been extracted from the sailor, further testing could be conducted.