A 120-foot superyacht worth more than $10 million sank to the bottom of the Florida coast 13 miles off Fort Lauderdale in two hours.
Among the thirteen rescued were the superyacht's owner Richard Paul Matheson and his family, the captain and six crew members. None of them were injured.
Captain Tim Morgan of Sea Tow, the firm that raises and tows wrecked boats, said the vessel could not be salvaged despite the rescuers having eight pumps to pump out the water. In his opinion, the cause of the wreck could have been a mechanical malfunction. The Coast Guard is also considering the version of the yacht collision with some obstacle.
Sea Tow, however, was able to salvage an 18-foot tender, a jet ski and some other possessions.
Paul Matheson, owner of the Brazilian development company ECISA, was heading to the Bahamas to relax with his family. He bought the 37-metre Explorer Serena III, built by Brazilian shipyard H. Dantas, in 2012. The boat was launched two years earlier. Serena III can accelerate to 12 knots and has a 56,600-litre diesel fuel reserve on board.
