A superyacht moored in Valencia now looks like the crusty bottom of a Paella pan. The yacht in question was a beautiful, multi-million dollar Sanlorenzo SX88.
The fire broke out at around 1pm local time. Five fire crews came to deal with the flame-engulfed vessel.
The yacht has been identified as Pesa, a 2019 model from Sanlorenzo’s SX crossover line. Witnesses say the flames were extinguished by firefighters but reignited a few seconds later without the firefighters being able to control the fire.
The incident occurred on Friday last week.
The yacht, which Boat International reports was 27 metres, and which Las Provincias reports was 23 metres, was engulfed by flames while firefighters called for backup. As you can see in the video, the burning fibreglass created a column of smoke.
The cause of the fire has not been confirmed, but initial investigations suggest the fire was started by a fault with the yacht’s lithium batteries. One Twitter user (see below) wondered out loud whether the yacht could have been owned by an Oligarch worried about sanctions…
Anyone knows if an oligarch owned it? Could need insurance money.
— Cabrewer (@cabfromnyc1) April 11, 2022
The incident did not cause injury or damage to other boats. After 12 hours of trying to get the flames under control, the remnants of the yacht partially sank.
The yacht was reportedly carrying 8,000 litres of fuel, but emergency services have said the fire has not caused any discharge into the water. The yacht, according to Las Provincias, was worth about 5 million euros (AUD $7.3 million dollars), weighed 82 tonnes and has been left semi sunk after the destruction.
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