Yacht Worth $7.8 Million Capsized, Plunged In Ionian Sea

Italian Coast Guard rescue all nine people on board

A 39.4-meter super yacht worth $7.8 million capsized and plunged into the Ionian Sea, with the Italian Coast Guard springing into action to rescue all nine people on board.

According to Italy's wire service ANSA, The vessel, My Saga, was motoring through the Gulf of Squillace on Saturday evening when the coast guard responded to a call from the crew that the boat's stern was filling up with water.

It dispatched a ship to the yacht, which was located nine nautical miles off the coast, to rescue its four passengers and a member of the crew.

They returned the next morning with a tugboat to haul My Saga to shore and pick up the captain and the three remaining crew members, by which point sea conditions were turning rougher and the yacht was listing sharply. It sank in the early afternoon, the agency reported.

Looking into the situation, Boat International said, It's not clear who owns My Saga, which sails under the Cayman Islands flag.

It was built by Italian ship maker Cantieri San Marco and designed by popular British superyacht designer Tim Heywood. The vessel, which had a teak deck and could accommodate up to 12 passengers, was one of only 1,068 motor yachts in the 35- to 40-meter size range.

The Italian Coast Guard shared a video of the 15-year-old luxury yacht's final moments before it pitched forward and sank into the sea. Authorities are investigating the cause.

Taking notes from Rory Jackson, head of superyachts at VesselsValue, the scale of the accident is rare in the boating world.

"If the highest levels of safety are adhered to and procedures followed properly, they should occur even less frequently," he said. "There will now be a period of investigation to ascertain exactly what occurred and why. We can all be thankful that the crew escaped unharmed."