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James Bond-Themed Superyacht Called '007' Sinks Within Yards of Greek Beach

"In trying not to be sunk, he sailed closer to shore," a boat owner who watched the event unfold said of the captain's actions

Five passengers aboard a superyacht named in honor of British superspy James Bond had to be rescued after it capsized and began sinking yards away from a Greek beach Friday.

The 160-foot superyacht named "007" experienced a GPS malfunction around 50 feet from the beaches of Kolona Bay on the Mediterranean island of Kythnos, SWNS reported.

"They say that the captain had some depth problem and he hit the bottom," a boat owner said about the vessel's captain, per SWNS

"In trying not to be sunk, he sailed closer to shore, in less than 10 meters depth — and that's how the ship got to that position." Thankfully, nobody was hurt in the incident, added SWNS.

"The coastguard was immediately aware and sent help in the night," the local continued, per SWNS.

"Next morning they put an antipollution perimeter," the boat owner continued. "It appears there was no diesel leakage or damage to the scenery."

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According to SuperYacht Times , the "007" was developed by Aegean Yachts in 2006 and can accommodate up to 10 people. It also has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure.

In true James Bond style, however, the identity of the owner has not been revealed.

The sinking of the 007 follows the demise of a 131-foot superyacht named My Saga, which capsized nine miles off the coast of Catanzaro, Italy in August.

Shocking footage released by the Italian coast guard showed the vessel sinking stern-first near the Catanzaro Marina.

According to the BBC , "the Italian coast guard rescued all nine people on board – four passengers and five crew. The outlet reported the ship was heading from Gallipoli to Milazzo.

An investigation of the incident is ongoing and it is still unclear what caused the yacht to sink.

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You could say that 2022 has not been a good year for superyachts in general, and you wouldn’t be completely off the mark. In between seizures and legal complications, and what seems like an increased number of totaling incidents, superyacht-watching has definitely gotten more… dramatic this past year.

We can now add another incident to that ever-growing list: 007, a superyacht delivered by Aegean Yachts in 2006, has sunk after running aground off the coast of Greece. It happened on Friday night (September 2), with reports in the local  media  saying that the captain hit rocks under the surface of the water.

The ship is now almost completely submerged in Kolona Bay in Kythnos, in the Cyclades island chain in Greece, only some 15 meters (49.2 feet) from the beach. The Greek Coast Guard has confirmed the incident but, for the time being, it can’t speak on the circumstances surrounding it – and for very good reason, since an investigation into the cause is still underway.

The good news is that the five people onboard the vessel were rescued by the Coast Guard and transported to safety. The other piece of good news is that Coast Guard personnel was able to contain the superyacht with a floating sea wall, and there have been no reports of pollution as of the time of press. Given the location of the wreck, it is very likely that a recovery operation will be attempted.

The captain called in for help after running aground, as the ship started taking on water. Shortly afterwards, 007 listed on the port side, and eventually capsized. Photos and videos have emerged on social media showing the extent of the damage, and you will find some of them included in this article.

007 is a 49-meter (160-foot) superyacht that wasn’t available for charter, but was often described as the perfect family boat. Initially delivered as a 32-meter (105-footer) under the name Royal Enterprise, at the Bodrum shipyard in Turkey, it’s been through several refits, which have contributed to its current explorer-like, more aggressive silhouette. These refits included a lengthening of the hull to 49 meters (160 feet), adding another deck, and a small touch-and-go helipad on top.

With a design by Yavuz Mete, 007 offered accommodation for 10 guests and 5 crew. Powered by twin Caterpillar engines that developed a total of 1,300 hp, it could travel at a top speed of 12 knots (13.8 mph / 22.2 kph). None of that matters now, as it’s come to what could possibly be its end on the rocky shore of Greece.

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VIDEO: 007 superyacht sinks in Greece

Monday, September 5th, 2022

Written by: Marine Industry News

In what feels like a never-ending run of disaster stories this year, a 49m superyacht – known as 007 – has capsized and is now semi-submerged in Greece, 15m off shore, awaiting recovery (2 Sept 2022).

According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, five passengers were rescued. No one was hurt. The incident took place at Kolona Bay, Kythnos.

Media reports suggest that the superyacht ran aground on Friday evening, causing an inflow of water that gradually tilted the vessel.

The coast guard answered mayday calls and found the vessel in a semi-submerged state.

According to Cyclades24 , there was failure in the GPS and the boat ran aground in the shallows, a breach was created and there was a large inflow of water causing 007 to lean on its side into the sea. This has yet to be confirmed.

An alternative report from eSysman suggests the captain deliberately tried to ground the vessel to stop it from sinking after it hit the rocks.

The Greek media outlet also says no marine pollution was caused and procedures for removal have already started. A towing company has arrived in Kythnos and is considering how to tow the ultra-luxury boat.

007 was launched as Amazon A by the Turkish shipyard Aegean Yacht in 2006. She was originally 32m long but has since been modified extensively to 49m.

“Shaken, stirred or on the rocks Mr. Bond?” asks one commentator.

Earlier in August, MIN reported on the sinking of a 39m yacht in Italy, and prior to that the 26m Kapky sank off the Turkish coast . A 49m schooner also sank in June after being hit by a supply vessel in a Spanish port.

An investigation into the superyacht sinking in Greece has begun.

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Video: 49m superyacht 007 sinks in Greece

BY APB Staff on 6 Sep 2022

The yacht capsized on Friday, although it remains unclear how the 49-metre vessel ran aground

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dEVXMP78xoU

Superyacht 007  has sunk off the coast of Greece, according to the local coast guard. Footage has been circulating on social media throughout the weekend of the stricken yacht, which is lying on its side in shallow waters off Kolona Bay in Kythnos.

The 49-metre vessel ran aground on Friday evening and reportedly took on water before capsizing. Reports say 007 is currently semi-submerged and awaiting recovery around 15 metres off the coast. The coast guard says that five passengers were rescued, and there are no reported injuries. Search and rescue teams have installed a boom around the yacht to prevent pollution from spreading around the local environment.  

The yacht 007 capsized on Friday evening. Image: Cyclades24

In a statement, the Hellenic Coast Guard says: “In the evening hours of Friday, the Port Authority of Kythnos was informed by the Unified Center for Coordination of Search and Rescue LS-EL.AKT. that the yacht 007 of the flag of Great Britain has run aground in the sea area of Kolona Bay, Kythnos with five foreign passengers.

The E/P vessel DELTA II T. Saronicou 4760 rushed to the area with a member of the relevant Port Authority on board, where it located the above semi-submerged T/C, at a distance of approximately 15 meters from the western side of the sandy beach of Kolona Bay. The passengers, all in good health, transferred to the auxiliary boat and were then transferred to the port of Merichas in Kythnos.”

Superyacht 007 runs aground in Kynthos, Greece https://t.co/MJuMZCDt79 #greece #greek #greekcitytimes pic.twitter.com/fe9KOWQVfq — Greek City Times (@greekcitytimes) September 3, 2022

There are some conflicting reports about how the yacht ran aground in the first place. An analysis by eSysman suggests that the captain may have chosen to ground the vessel after it hit rocks, to prevent it from sinking under the water. Meanwhile, Greek outlet Cyclades24 suggests that the GPS failed, leading the boat to run aground in the shallows before breaching and taking on water. 

A towing company is now on the scene in Kythnos, and is establishing how to safely remove the superyacht from the scene. 

007 was launched as Amazon A by Turkish shipyard Aegean Yacht , in 2006. The vessel was originally 32m long but has been extended to 49m in a series of modifications, which included an extra deck and helipad. 

In August, superyacht M/Y Saga sank off the coast of northern Italy , after the crew reported the vessel taking on water at the stern.

Dramatic footage of the scene shared by the  coast guard shows the 39.4-metre superyacht tilting heavily to starboard, as the waves crash against the decks. And, in June, a Custom Line Navetta 26 superyacht sank off the coast of Seferihisar, in western Turkey, after taking on water.

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Video: Nourah of Riyad Refloated After Capsizing in Greece

The 70-metre motor yacht Nourah of Riyad has been refloated after capsizing in Greece earlier this month.

A time-lapse video online shows the efforts to stabilise the yacht, which is understood to have capsized on March 8 while being hauled out for maintenance at a Greek yard.

The yacht has now been moved to another dock where the incident will be investigated and repair work will get underway.

Delivered in 2008 by Turkish yard Yachtley, Nourah of Riyad was designed inside and out by Donald Starkey and offers accommodation for 22 people with 18 crew.

Power comes from two 3150.0hp Caterpillar 3516-C diesel engines for a top speed of 19 knots.

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Videos: Superyacht 007 Capsizes and Sinks in Greece

Aegean superyacht 007 sinks near Kythnos, Greece

The 49-meter superyacht “007” sank on the island of Kythnos, Greece on Friday night. No one was hurt.

The Coast Guard announced that the yacht is now in an almost fully submerged state.

The superyacht 007 ran aground on Friday evening, causing an inflow of water that gradually tilted the vessel.

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How did the superyacht carrying tech tycoon Mike Lynch sink off Sicily?

Lynch’s was among five bodies retrieved by divers on Wednesday after the Bayesian sank, according to reports.

Five bodies were retrieved on Wednesday, and a sixth on Friday , by divers searching for those missing from the superyacht which sank off the Sicilian coast in the Mediterranean. The bodies found include British tech tycoon Mike Lynch , the UK’s Telegraph reported. The bodies have not been formally identified by the authorities yet.

It is understood that they were retrieved from inside the sunken yacht, which is reported to be lying on its side on the sea bed at a depth of 50 metres

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One dead, six missing after luxury superyacht capsizes off sicily coast, luxury yacht sinks off sicilian coast, uk extradites autonomy co-founder mike lynch to us, how serious are the wildfires near athens, greece.

This brings the total death toll to seven; one person, reported to be the chef from the yacht, was confirmed dead on Monday.

The yacht capsized on Monday at about 5am (03:00 GMT) after it was hit by stormy weather caused by a “waterspout” – or mini tornado – according to Italian authorities.

The cruise had reportedly been undertaken to celebrate the acquittal of Lynch in a fraud trial in the United States in June.

His co-defendant in the trial, Steve Chamberlain, who was also acquitted in June, was killed after being hit by a car on Saturday.

Here’s what is known so far about the yacht, those on board and who died or were still missing after it sank.

Who was on the superyacht which sank?

According to the Italian coastguard, the 56-metre-long (184 feet) British-flagged yacht, called the Bayesian, was carrying 22 people, including 10 crew members.

One person has been confirmed dead after rescuers located a body on Monday at a depth of about 50 metres (164 feet), the AFP news agency reported. Officials have not yet given the name of the deceased but Italian media reported that he was the yacht’s chef.

AFP reported on Tuesday that divers had spotted a second body inside the sunk boat, quoting a source close to the search operation. Authorities have not confirmed it yet, though.

While not all the names of the six missing passengers were not made public officially, they were understood to include:

• Mike Lynch, 59, a British-Irish technology businessman who co-founded British tech company Autonomy in 1996 and was once likened to Microsoft founder Bill Gates; he earned a PhD from Cambridge University
• Hannah Lynch, 18, Mike’s daughter, who had just completed her final school exams and was due to begin a degree in English at the University of Oxford this September
• Jonathan Bloomer, the 70-year-old British chairman of Morgan Stanley bank and the Hiscox insurance company, was confirmed as missing by Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain
• Judy Bloomer, Jonathan’s wife, was also confirmed as missing by Hussain
• Chris Morvillo, from British international law firm Clifford Chance, was confirmed to be missing by Salvatore Cocina, head of the Civil Protection in Sicily

Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued. Among others rescued were Charlotte Golunski, 36, a board director at Luminance, a software startup founded by Lynch; her husband, James; and their one-year-old daughter, Sophie. Golunski is understood to have kept her daughter alive by holding her above her head while she was in the water.

All those rescued are in stable condition, although eight of them have been hospitalised, according to Italian news agency Adnkronos.

What do we know about the Bayesian?

Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi constructed the superyacht in 2008 and refitted it in 2020, according to the company’s website.

The yacht’s owner is listed as Revtom Limited, a firm solely owned by Lynch’s wife, Bacares, according to company documents seen by the Reuters news agency.

It was formerly called Salute but was renamed Bayesian after Lynch’s PhD thesis and his software that earned him a fortune. Both of these were based on the statistical Bayesian theory, championed by mathematician Thomas Bayes.

Where was the Bayesian last seen and where was it going?

The Bayesian was last located on Sunday evening in the Tyrrhenian Sea, east of the harbour at Porticello, according to ship tracking websites Vessel Finder and Marine Traffic.

Porticello is a port city located near the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

The yacht had departed on August 14 from the Sicilian port of Milazzo. Its destination was reported to be the Italian city of Bagheria by the tracking websites.

Did a waterspout cause the yacht to sink?

Italian authorities reported that the stormy conditions that caused the yacht to sink were triggered by a waterspout.

A waterspout is a rotating column of whirling air and water mist – sometimes referred to as a mini tornado – according to the website of the US National Ocean Service.

The website adds that a tornadic waterspout is a tornado that forms over water or moves from land to water. They are similar to land tornadoes and can occur during thunderstorms.

Who is Stephen Chamberlain and how is he connected to this case?

Chamberlain, 52, was Lynch’s co-defendant in a fraud trial in San Francisco, which saw both men acquitted in June.

Chamberlain died in a hospital from injuries sustained when he was hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, on Saturday. His death was confirmed by his lawyer Gary Lincenberg in a statement on Monday.

The fraud case related to Hewlett Packard’s $11bn acquisition of Autonomy, the firm Lynch grew into the UK’s leading tech company before it spectacularly unravelled after being bought by HP in 2011.

Lynch was extradited to the US in May 2023 and he spent more than a year under house arrest before his acquittal. Chamberlain was the former vice president of finance at Autonomy.

The yacht trip was supposedly a celebration of Lynch’s acquittal.

How did the rescue operation unfold?

Specialist divers began a search anew for the six missing people on Tuesday. Three divers, equipped with oxygen cylinders, descended beneath the surface to examine the wreck.

They initially faced difficulty accessing the yacht’s chambers because they were constricted by furniture.

An investigation into the wreck has been opened by prosecutors in the nearby Sicilian town of Termini Imerese.

What have survivors and witnesses said about the incident?

“It was terrible. The boat was hit by really strong wind and shortly after it went down,” survivor Golunski told the ANSA news agency.

She added that she had lost hold of her one-year-old daughter in the water for “two seconds”, but then managed to grab her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety. She reported that people were screaming.

Karsten Borner, a captain of a nearby yacht who witnessed the sinking, said he had turned on the engine of his ship to prevent collision with the Bayesian. “We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone,” he told reporters.

Bloomer’s wife, Judy, is a trustee of the Eve Appeal, a UK-based gynaecological cancer research charity. Athena Lamnisos, the CEO of the Eve Appeal, was quoted by the BBC saying she was “deeply shocked to hear the news that our very dear friend and her husband Jonathan, are among those missing”.

Watch CBS News

5th body recovered from Mike Lynch's family yacht off Sicily as questions mount over luxury vessel's sinking

By Anna Matranga

Updated on: August 22, 2024 / 10:48 AM EDT / CBS News

Rome — Divers recovered the body of a fifth victim of the Bayesian superyacht wreck Thursday morning, Sicily Civil Protection Chief Salvo Cocina confirmed to CBS News, and the Reuters news agency cited Italian Interior Ministry official Massimo Mariani as saying it was the body of Mike Lynch, the British tech magnate whose wife owned the vessel.

Italian Coast Guard spokesperson Vincenzo Zagarola told CBS News that teams were still working to recover the body of the sixth and final person left missing when the boat went down. The six bodies had remained stuck inside the 184-foot luxury yacht for days after it sank early Monday morning off the coast of Palermo, Sicily in a severe thunderstorm.

Four bodies were retrieved Wednesday from the Bayesian, which was resting on the seafloor at a 90 degree angle at a depth of over 160 feet. The vessel's position and items that moved around inside the ill-fated yacht made recovery efforts slow and hazardous.

Italian authorities have not officially identified the remains recovered from the Bayesian, which belonged to Lynch's wife Angela Bacares. She was among the 15 people who managed to escape from the boat as it sank quickly on Monday morning, but Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those left missing.

Another victim, the Bayesian superyacht's chef, was found dead soon after the boat capsized. 

Along with Lynch and his daughter, the technology mogul's American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, and British banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, were believed to have been trapped in the yacht when it sank.

Questions as to how the state-of-the-art boat could have gone down so quickly have mounted steadily since the accident. 

Italian media were reporting Thursday that, after questioning survivors and witnesses, Italian prosecutors had opened an official investigation into a possible "culpable shipwreck." No individuals had been named as potential suspects.

On Thursday, Giovanni Costantino, head of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the company Perini Navi, which built the Bayesian in 2008, blamed human error.

"A Perini ship resisted Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 [hurricane]. Does it seem to you that it can't resist a tornado from here?" he remarked to the newspaper Corriere della Sera. "It is good practice when the ship is at anchor to have a guard on the bridge, and if there was one he could not have failed to see the storm coming. Instead, it took on water with the guests still in the cabin. ... They ended up in a trap, those poor people ended up like mice."

One possible factor could have been that the ship's keel — a fin-like structure that sticks out from the bottom of the boat, designed to provide stability and counterweight to the huge mast — was not fully deployed. The yacht had a retractable keel that could be raised for entry into shallow harbors. But a raised keel at sea would have made the ship much more vulnerable to instability in the strong winds that struck early Monday morning.

When asked whether divers had seen the ship's keel in a raised position, a spokesman for the Italian Coast Guard told CBS News that only the prosecutor investigating the incident could confirm such information but that the Coast Guard "was not denying" it. 

The ship's captain, 51-year-old New Zealand national James Cutfileld, was questioned for two hours by prosecutors on Thursday, according to Italian media.

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70m Nourah of Riyad capsizes in Greece

The turkish-built superyacht has capsized at a facility in perama, greece….

According to various reports on social media, 70m Nourah of Riyad , delivered at the Turkish shipyard Yay Gemi Yapim in 2008, has capsized at the Megatechnica shipyard in Perma, Greece. Initial reports indicate that there were no injuries or marine pollution as a result of the incident.

According to the Greek news platform News247 , the incident occurred around 12 o’clock on Sunday and was reportedly caused when the 70m superyacht was being lifted out of the water for anti-fouling works. Nourah of Riyad is said to have listed around 45-degrees and subsequently partially submerged.

The National Herald , an English-speaking Greek news channel, further reports that damage has been caused to the facilities of a neighbouring shipyard and some equipment on board the tourist boat Lamadin , which was also in the vicinity. 

SuperyachtNews contacted Megatechnica via telephone, but a shipyard representative refused to comment.

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One person dead and six missing after superyacht with 22 on board is sunk by tornado off coast of Italy

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among those unaccounted for after the ship was battered by a tornado off the coast of Palermo in the early hours of Monday morning.

Tuesday 20 August 2024 16:20, UK

A man has died and six people are missing after a UK-flagged superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily in a tornado - with a prominent British businessman among those unaccounted for.

Technology tycoon Mike Lynch owned the 56-metre vessel (183ft), named Bayesian.

Mr Lynch, known as the "British Bill Gates", has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.

In June, he was cleared of all charges by a US jury related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah is among those missing after his yacht sank, local media reports.

Follow live updates: People missing after superyacht sinks

Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares is confirmed to be among the 15 people who were rescued after the British-flagged yacht capsized at around 4.30am local time (3.30am UK time) on Monday.

One body has also been recovered, after being found close to the vessel, according to local media.

Read more: Everything we know so far about luxury vessel sunk by tornado Lynch's co-defendant dies after being hit by car days before yacht sinking

The boat was hit by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, that struck where the yacht had been anchored during the storm.

Police divers have been trying to reach the hull of the ship, which is resting at a depth of 50 metres (163 feet) off Porticello, near Palermo.

During the rescue effort, divers saw "corpses through the portholes" of the wreck, Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily, said.

“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he added.

The incident comes days after Stephen Chamberlain, Mr Lynch's co-accused in the fraud trial, died in a car collision in Stretham, Cambridgeshire.

Mr Chamberlain's lawyer said he was out running on Saturday when he was hit by a car.

Most on board yacht thought to be British

The boat had 12 passengers and a crew of 10 people. Four of the missing passengers are British and two are American, Italian news website la Reppublica reports.

Most of those on board were reported to be from Britain - including a mother and one-year-old daughter who are among those rescued.

Speaking to the Giornale Di Sicilia newspaper, Charlotte Golunski said: "For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.

"I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming. Luckily, the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us managed to get on board."

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Ms Golunski was reportedly given stitches for a chest injury following the ordeal. The father of the child also survived, Mr Cocina said.

Eight of the 15 people rescued and taken ashore at Porticello were taken to hospital, while the others were taken to a hotel.

The Italian coast guard said the boat had passengers from Britain, the US, and Canada.

Meanwhile, multiple Italian news outlets reported that people on the boat were from Britain, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Ireland.

British-French citizens were also among those on the superyacht, according to reports.

'I saw it sinking with my own eyes'

Pietro Asciutto, a fisherman from Porticello who witnessed the storm, told local media: "I was at home when the tornado hit. I immediately closed all the windows. Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very big. I saw it suddenly sink."

He added: "I think the whirlwind came from Porticello... shortly afterwards I went down to Santa Nicolicchia Bay to get a better look at what was happening.

"The boat was still floating, then all of a sudden it disappeared. I saw it sinking with my own eyes."

Fabio Cefalu, another local fisherman, called rescue services after spotting the wrecked boat off Porticello.

He said: "Around 3.55am we witnessed the whirlwind. After a quarter of an hour, we saw a flare 500 metres away from the dock.

"Around 4:35am we went out to sea for the rescue, however, we only saw the remains of the boat floating. There were no men in the sea. So we immediately called the harbour master's office."

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: "We are in contact with the local authorities following an incident in Sicily, and stand ready to provide consular support to British nationals affected."

Camper and Nicholsons, which provided yacht management services for the Bayesian, has confirmed the vessel sank at around 4.30am local time.

The company said in a statement: "The Italian coast guard is leading search and rescue operations, and has safely recovered 15 individuals. Efforts to locate the seven missing persons continue.

"Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew."

Online charter sites listed the Bayesian as available for rent for up to €195,000 (about £166,339) a week.

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Saudi Prince’s $79million superyacht capsizes and partially sinks while docked in Greece

• Britta Zeltmann
• Published : 8:55 ET, Mar 16 2020
• Updated : 15:22 ET, Mar 16 2020

A $79MILLION superyacht owned by a Saudi prince capsized and partially sunk while it was docked in Greece.

The 230ft Nourah of Riyad, owned by Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Saud, was being lifted out of the water for repairs when it capsized.

The luxury liner was at a repair yard, the Megatechnica shipyard in Perama, Athens, when it was turned at a 45-degree angle, becoming partially submerged in the water.

The exceptionally expensive accident happened at around midday on Sunday as it was undergoing anti-fouling works.

The yacht's crew and workers are said to be safe and nobody was injured when it capsized.

There was no marine pollutiuon as a result of the incident.

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The 1,415 tonne yacht boasts 11 cabins for up to 22 guests and a crew of 18, complete with a master suite and VIP stateroom.

The yacht, which can reach speeds of up to 19.0kn, also has a Jacuzzi on deck and cinema on board.

She also has a tender garage that allows smaller boats and "toys" like jetski's to be carried aboard.

The stunning 70 metre long vessel was built by Yachtley in Turkey and delivered in 2008. She is sailing under the flag of the Cayman Islands.

Her exterior was custom designed by Donald Starkey and she was refitted in 2012.

Nourah of Riyad is equipped with an ultra-modern stabilization system which reduces roll motion effect and results in a smoother cruise.

She is powered by two Caterpillar 3,150hp diesel engines and has 170,000 litre fuel tanks that give her a maximum range of 6,000 nautical miles at 14 knots.

She has been spotted all over the world.

The luxury yacht is said to have damaged a neighboring shipyard as well as equipment on board the tourist boat Lamadin, which was also nearby.

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Saudi Prince’s $72m Superyacht Capsizes in Greece

A Saudi Prince’s Yacht, worth $72 MILLION, partially sank after capsizing in Greece.

The 230ft Nourah of Riyad, owned by Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Saud capsized as it was being lifted out of the water last week for repairs to her hull. Something went wrong and she capsized starboard,

The Saudi Prince’s yacht now sits at a 45 degree angle after becoming partially submerged. There were no reports of injuries after the accident.

The Superyacht boasts 11 cabins for guests including a VIP stateroom and a Master Suite. It weights over 1400 tons and features a jacuzzi and a theater with seating for 9 on board.

A neighboring boat was damaged along with equipment at the shipyard (Perama Athens).

The Donald Starkey designed yacht was built by Yachtley in Turkey in 2008. In 2012 the Nourah of Riyad was refitted at  Yachtley . She had a 5 meter extension with a swimming platform and beach club added on.

Certainly the prince will be insured and will have a new yacht built promptly. Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Saud has a net worth exceeding $1 billion.

Prince Turki Bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Saud is the son of Prince Muhammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud . His father owns another superyacht named the Montkaj and a $300+ million Boeing 777. The 256 ft Montkaj was designed by Terence Disdale and built in the Amels Shipyard.

One of many Saudi Superyachts

The Saudi Royal Family owns a variety of ultra expensive superyachts. The most famous of which is the Serene, bought after the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman spotted the yacht offshore. He dispatched members of his entourage to purchase the yacht from Vodka Legend Yuri Sheffler. The yacht reportedly cost over $600 million and the Russian left the yacht right after the purchase. Allegedly “Salvator Mundi”  a $450 million dollar Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece is being kept on board the yacht.

Related Story: Superyacht Ecstasea collides with the Simpson Bay Bridge

Related Story: The Ultimate Superyacht Tender – Intrepid 475

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What is known about the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily and those aboard

P ORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts were searching Tuesday for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily.

The sleek yacht, named the Bayesian, was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers when it suddenly sank near the Mediterranean island that is part of Italy at about 4 a.m. on Monday. One body has been recovered and 15 people survived.

Fire rescue officials have said the six believed to remain in the sailboat's hull will be considered missing until they are located in the wreckage.

Here's what we know so far about the sinking and those who were on board.

What happened?

Italian civil protection officials believe a sudden and fierce storm that battered the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday whipped up a waterspout in the exact spot where the 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was moored.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht moored nearby, said he saw the Bayesian during the storm but when the wild weather passed it was gone and he saw only a red flare lighting the night sky, the Italian news agency ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported.

Borner and one of his crew boarded their tender and found a lifeboat carrying 15 people, some of them injured. They took them aboard their yacht and alerted the coast guard.

Rescue authorities said the wreck was resting at a depth of 50 meters (163 feet) about a half mile offshore of the picturesque fishing village of Porticello.

Who was on board?

Among the missing is 59-year-old tech tycoon Mike Lynch , sometimes described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a U.S. fraud trial linked to the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Lynch still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven’t been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

A Cambridge-educated mathematician, Lynch made his name running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was reportedly among the missing. His wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 other people survived.

Among others still missing Tuesday, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife, Neda. Morvillo was regarded as an elite defense lawyer and was also a federal prosecutor in New York after 9/11.

Also missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. He is the former head of the Autonomy audit committee and testified for the defense at Lynch’s trial.

Bloomer was also chair of the Hiscox Group, an insurer that does business on the Lloyd’s of London market.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain said in a statement.

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to grab her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, ANSA reported. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.

The Dutch foreign ministry said a Dutch man survived. The ministry, citing privacy, did not release his identity.

One body was recovered on Monday, identified as the on-board chef.

What is the Bayesian?

The Bayesian was a luxury yacht built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Nav. It was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast — one of the world’s tallest. Online charter sites listed it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $215,000) a week.

Its registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd., based on the Isle of Man, according to online maritime database Equasis. Lynch’s wife is listed as Revtom’s sole owner, according to corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man.

The yacht's name is an apparent reference to “Bayesian inference,” one of the two main approaches to statistical machine learning and the one that was used by Autonomy.

What is a waterspout?

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water and can happen when a storm moves across warm water.

According to the U.S. National Ocean Service, there are two types of waterspouts — fair-weather and tornadic.

Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,” the service says on its website.

While scientists haven’t attributed the specific event to climate change, average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months . Hotter air can hold more moisture, making heavier storms more likely.

Sicily has been baking under intense heat this summer , and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts notes the Mediterranean Sea is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with warming rates roughly 20% higher than the global average.

How rare is it for a huge sailboat like this to capsize?

Experts say it is extraordinarily rare for a luxury sailboat of this size to capsize due to weather events.

“This just doesn’t happen. You know, boats sink because things like keels fall off, or they run aground and breach the hull ... whereas just from a weather angle, a boat that big being pushed over on its side is absolutely extraordinary,” said Skip Novak, a lifelong sailor who has taken part in multiple round the world yacht races and written books about sailing.

Novak said he believed that strong gusts likely pushed the yacht over 90 degrees to its side, and the vessel did not recover because of the weight of the huge mast and because it was anchored. He suggested that internal doors were likely not closed, and water quickly poured in to sink the vessel.

“When you’re at anchor, even if it’s blowing with a storm in the Mediterranean, you rarely shut the whole boat down because nobody expects something like this to happen," Novak told The Associated Press. “So if the boat wasn’t completely watertight at the deck, you’d have flooding going in. It would take a couple minutes and that would be it."

What happens next?

As the search for the missing continues, authorities already have begun trying to piece together exactly what happened.

Prosecutors from the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation, as is normal in such events even when no suspects are identified. To date, they have not commented publicly.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

British entrepreneur Mike Lynch among missing after luxury yacht sinks off Sicily

• Medium Text
• Violent storm struck in the early hours of Monday
• One man confirmed dead, six people missing
• Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch among the missing
• Morgan Stanley International chairman is also missing

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Writing by Crispian Balmer and Giulia Segreti; Additional reporting by Danilo Arnone in Porticello, Marta Di Donfrancesco, Gavin Jones and Alvise Armellini in Rome, Paul Sandle and Sachin Ravikumar in London, Wladimiro Pantaleone, David Bario and Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Ros Russell and Michael Perry

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