What should have been a day to celebrate ended in disaster off the Turkish coast. A luxury yacht, valued at approximately one million dollars, sank for only 15 minutes after its launch in the Black Sea.
The boat disappeared underwater just a few meters from the shore, while the owner and his crew managed to swim to land without major problems and without suffering any damage. The boat simply floated…but just a little.
An Ephemeral Joy
The ship called Dolce Vento was going to be a nautical jewel, but a video that has gone viral due to the paradoxical nature of what happened shows that even the most expensive and luxurious projects can fail unexpectedly.
In the video, you can see how the yacht slides decisively from dry land to what will be its natural environment for the rest of its useful life, but just a few minutes are enough to verify that this will be very short.
Instead of stabilizing after the initial capsize following the change of medium, the yacht begins to list more and more until it is completely lying down for a few minutes.
On board were the owner, the captain, and two crew members who managed to climb onto the part of the hull that was kept out of the water. Faced with the imminent shipwreck, they jumped into the sea with resignation to swim back to a coast that was only 200 meters away.
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Build Ships That Don’t Float
The Dolce Vento was built by the Turkish company Med Yilmaz in Istanbul, which specializes in custom yachts, making it surprising that the boat sank just a few minutes after launching.
The boat measured 25 meters in length, with both its hull and internal superstructure made of aluminum. Although the official causes are still under investigation, cited experts by The Sun suggest that the problem could have stemmed from an error in the calculations of the yacht’s stability during its construction.
Specifically, experts are focusing on errors related to the metacentric height measurement, a crucial parameter for the safety and stability of any vessel, which allows ships to regain verticality when rocked by waves. This failure may have caused the yacht to lose its balance after the oscillations from the launch, leading to a rapid sinking as it could not recover its center.
According to reports from the French newspaper Le Parisien, the coast guard and Zonguldak port authorities have established a security perimeter around the wreck to prevent additional accidents and ensure safety in the area, as the vessel sank to a depth of only seven meters.
While celebrating that the unfortunate incident has been resolved without any injuries (beyond the expensive yacht itself), one can only hope that the owner kept the purchase receipt for the return of the boat.
In light of this astonishing turn of events, it serves as a stark reminder of the complexities involved in marine engineering. The design flaws, however rare, can lead to catastrophic failures, even with significant investments. The hope is that future projects take this occurrence as a lesson, leading to improved safety measures, better construction practices, and ultimately, yachts that don’t just float for a few moments but stand the test of time.