The Angeloa II sank off Porto Cervo, Sardinia, on Tuesday, just days after it was delivered to its new owner. The super-luxury yacht went down in the Mediterranean Sea after an engine failure sparked a fire that left the vessel taking on water and listing onto its side.
Fourteen people were on board when the trouble started. Twelve were pulled to safety by a nearby vessel, while the owner and a friend stayed aboard until a patrol boat took them to Poltu Quatu. No injuries were reported, but the loss of a newly delivered yacht was immediate and total.
The vessel had only recently entered service, which makes the sequence of events stand out more sharply: engine failure, fire, flooding and sinking, all within days of handover. The owner was identified as an Italian businessman, and the yacht was described as able to carry 10 guests across five cabins with five crew members, powered by four engines and capable of 28 knots.
The fire damaged the seals on the yacht, allowing water in and pushing the boat over onto its side before it sank to around 23 feet between L’Isola dei Cappuccini and Capo Ferro. That shallow resting place means the wreck remains close to the surface, but it does not mean the damage was minor; once the hull takes on enough water, a vessel of this size can lose stability fast.
What caused the engine failure has not been explained. That unanswered point matters because the yacht was delivered only four days earlier, yet it ended up on the seabed before the week was out. The boat will stay under surveillance until a recovery company brings it up, and the unanswered question now is not whether the ship can be recovered, but what failed so quickly after delivery.
