A pristine, white 44m superyacht now looks like the burnt bottom of a paella pan. The superyacht caught fire off the coast of Formentera on its first ever season on the Mediterranean. The crew and passengers all escaped unscathed, but the same can’t be said for the yacht.
Aria SF, a spanking new superyacht which was only delivered in July 2022, has been destroyed by fire while sailing off the coast of Formentera (a beautiful island just over 20km south of Ibiza). The yacht is 44m long. According to the area’s Maritime Rescue service, the 7 crew members and 9 passengers are all safe, having been rescued by the Maritime Rescue team.
The Maritime Rescue service also announced, some seven hours ago (as of the time of writing) that the fire had been almost completely extinguished. Diariodeibiza.es reports that the smoke could be seen from as far away as Ibiza. The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
Una embarcación se incendia en Cala Saona en Formentera. No hay heridos.Dos embarcaciones de @salvamentogob se encuentran trabajando en el lugar pic.twitter.com/HGKhoMACYg
— Radio Ibiza SER (@RADIOIBIZASER) August 11, 2022
According to El Pais the call for help went out at about 5pm, and it was then that the Maritime Rescue service sent out the Salvamar Acrux and the Guaramar Concepcion Arenal, which went to exacuate passengers and crew from the striken vessell and to put out the flames. Once the fire is out, El Pais reports, the Guardamar Concepcion Arenal will tow what’s left of the burnt superyacht to Ibiza.
According to The Superyacht Times, the yacht had a swimming pool, several lounges, five bedrooms and a gym. Aria SF also, Boat International reports, “was the first hull in the ISA GT 45 series and was due to make her world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September.”
Various superyachts have caught fire this year. The multi-million dollar 27 metre Sanlorenzo SX88, for instance, was destroyed in Valencia in April after an alleged fault occurred with the lithium batteries.
In January, too, a fire at Ferretti Shipyard in Cattolica destroyed what appeared to be the Ferretti Yachts 1000, with as many as five fire brigades being called to the scene.
Earlier this year DMARGE spoke to founder of BLC Yachts, Candas Balci, who has previously worked as a marina manager and a luxury yacht manager, to ask about superyacht protocols when it comes to fires. Balci told DMARGE that there are long procedures and trainings to avoid fires breaking out on board, “but at the end of the day all yachts are highly flammable.”
He added: “If it is fire you can put out in 3-5 minutes, it is always better to move the boat outside of [the] marina, far from other yachts and people, and continue your fire fighting somewhere safe.”
“Generally, this ends up with the yacht sinking, due to all the water pressured to the yacht to put down the fire. After the yacht is capsized, insurance companies come and check if it will be covered. Generally, they do, and lift out the burnt yacht in some dry dock to investigate the fire.”
Candas Balci
“But they have some items on their policies to not pay the coverage, therefore everything on your yacht must be legal, starting from the flag registry, manning on board and crew certificates. Otherwise, there will be hard days for the owner to get his money from insurance.”
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