The owner of a £3.8 million superyacht that sank just days after delivery is arranging to recover the vessel from the Mediterranean seabed. The Angiola II capsized on Tuesday evening off Porto Cervo in Sardinia, Italy.
The 98-foot yacht was delivered to its Italian owner just four days prior to the incident, following an extensive refurbishment. Footage shows the luxury vessel tipping onto its side and sinking beneath the waves. The yacht was listed for €4.5 million (£3.8 million) on a yacht selling platform, though Italian media outlets estimated its value at over €8 million (£6.8 million).
The Angiola II was launched by Italian shipyard Permare under the Amer Yachts brand in July 2020 and was the sixth hull in the Amer F100 series, which can accommodate up to ten guests across five cabins. The vessel was cordoned off with orange tape after the La Maddalena Coast Guard gained control of it. Measures are also reportedly being taken to prevent environmental damage.
The owner, believed to be an Italian businessman, was among 14 people on board when the yacht began to sink. Twelve individuals were rescued by a nearby vessel, while the owner and a friend waited on the sinking yacht for a patrol boat, which transported them to Poltu Quatu. No injuries were reported.
A specialist company has been contacted to recover the vessel, which has been lying submerged approximately 23 feet below the surface. A pontoon weighing around 200 tons is expected to be used for the recovery operation.
While the exact cause of the incident has not been officially confirmed, the yacht is believed to have lost buoyancy after an engine failure led to a fire in the seals, allowing water to enter the vessel. Experts have noted that stability issues, such as errors in metacentric height calculations, can be significant factors in vessels capsizing or sinking.
Ship brokerage Agenzia Marittima De Felice, which announced the yacht's purchase in July and described the owner as a long-standing client, had posted on Facebook in August, "A sincere thank you to our client for placing their trust in us once again. We wish the new owner many unforgettable moments on board."
This incident follows a similar event in September when a new £700,000 luxury yacht overturned and sank off the coast of Zonguldak in northern Turkey. That vessel, named Dolce Vento, was between 24 and 30 meters long and had been completed about five months before delivery. No injuries were reported in that incident either, and investigations into the cause were initiated.