Mr Terry's two laptops and the ship's log book which friends said he used to write notes in up to four times a day are also missing.
Raymond, Mr Terry's brother, who lives in Spain, has flown to the Seychelles along with his brother-in-law Robin Philips, while his elderly parents and sisters wait for news at home in Cape Town, South Africa.
Judith Middleton, a spokesman for Mr Terry's family, said they felt strongly that Mr Pokorny's story "just doesn't add up".
"They just can't understand why a qualified and experienced diver did not do more to rescue him," she said. "There is satellite communication equipment on board – so why didn't he radio for help?
"He told police it happened at night and in bad weather but other ships in the area said the weather was fine.
"Freak accidents do happen but why then didn't he make more effort to save him, or to notify the authorities? He is the only person who knows what happened and Sean's family are just desperate for answers."
His family have rejected suggestions he might have wanted to kill himself, saying he was on the final leg os his voyage and was happy.
"He had been emailing them to say he was looking forward to coming to Cape Town for the end of the year," she said.
"He said he was looking forward to diving with Stefan in the 'clear, crisp waters of the Seychelles'. They were sailing for some time alongside an Italian yacht and it sounded like there was a lot of camaraderie and fun."
Mr Terry was born in Britain but grew up in South Africa. He returned to Britain to work in Watford as a quantity surveyor for the engineering firm Edmund Nuttall.
He is unmarried and has no children but had an Australian girlfriend with whom he was arranging to meet up after his trip.
He had sailed with Mr Pokorny from Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then onto the remote Chagos Islands before setting sail for Madagascar on June 14.
Alongside them was an Italian-owned yacht, the Alice, whose crew say they last had radio contact with Mr Terry on June 18, around 300 miles west of the Chagos Islands and approximately one quarter of the way to Madagascar.
A week later, on June 25, Mr Pokorny sailed into the harbour of Coetivy island on the edge of the Seychelles archipelago. Mr Terry's family were only notified on July 11 that he had gone missing.
Dieter Dongphrajan, a fellow sailor who knew both men, told the Cape Times that Mr Pokorny had been learning to sail.
"Stefan is not an experienced sailor at all but he is a very good crew member, very helpful and keen to learn and that is why he joined Sean on this cruise," he said.
Jean Toussaint, a spokesman for Seychelles police, confirmed that Mr Pokorny was being held in custody in the capital Victoria and would appear in court on Thursday.
"He has been detained but there is no clear charge yet as investigations are ongoing," he said. "There has been forensic work done on the yacht. Things will be clearer when he has appeared in court."
Joel Morgan, the Seychelles Home Affairs Minister, said the unusual case had been given "a high level of priority".
"Somebody has disappeared at sea and we need a plausible explanation as to what happened," he told The Daily Telegraph.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are aware of dual British/South African citizen who went missing near the Seychelles and are providing consular assistance to the family."
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