motor yacht go crash

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Video: Turquoise superyacht Go collides with Sint Maarten dock

The 77 metre superyacht Go has been filmed colliding with the wooden dock of the Sint Maarten yacht club in the Caribbean.

Onlookers filmed the flagship of Turkish yard Turquoise Yachts crash into the dock as it was leaving Simpson Bay Lagoon from its berth in Ile de Sol Marina.

The collision, which took place at around 10.15am on Wednesday morning, was caused by a computer malfunction on board, according to local newspaper The Daily Herald .

The Daily Herald reported that the yacht collided with the wooden docks twice before returning to its berth. No injuries were reported.

Sint Maarten Yacht Club general manager Michele Korteweg told The Daily Herald : “We’ve been removing all the debris and out insurance person has already been here to assess the damage.”

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Superyacht crash video shows 77m Go colliding with Caribbean dock

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Footage has emerged of a 235ft superyacht crashing into a luxury Caribbean yacht club’s pier, causing visible damage to both the yacht and the dock.

Onlookers were shocked last week (February 24) when a 235ft (77m) superyacht collided with the dock of Sint Maarten Yacht Club in the Caribbean.

Video footage of the incident shows the extent of the damage – while the pier took the brunt of it, the superyacht’s steel hull didn’t come off unscathed.

Computer malfunction was to blame for the sickening superyacht crash, according to local publication The Daily Herald , which adds that no-one was injured as a result.

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The incident took place at around 1015 local time and the newspaper added that an insurer had already been to assess the extent of the damage by the end of the day.

If you think you’re having a bad day at work, spare a thought for the captain and crew who had to explain this situation to their yacht’s owner.

Launched by Turkish yard Turquoise Yachts in 2018, Go features a helipad, gym, jacuzzi, beach club, sauna and hospital as well as a master suite and eight guest cabins styled by London-based studio H2 Yacht Design.

She is run by a crew of up to 18 and her twin 2,575hp Caterpillar 3516C engines give her an estimated top speed of 17 knots.

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• Mar 4, 2021

Captain Makes Clutch Decision to Save Superyacht 'GO' in St. Maarten's Crash

By: Scott Way

Last week the brilliantly turquoise superyacht GO made headlines for crashing into St. Maarten's Yacht Club. Not once, but twice.

Naturally, internet 'experts' were quick to pounce. With a predictable lack of knowledge, many immediately labeled the crash the result of driver error. Surely no captain could crash one of the world's nicest boats into one of yachting's most famous ports. What the videos lack, like most viral phenomena, is context. The captain of GO was recently interviewed by The Daily Herald to discuss the circumstances surrounding the incident. Predictably, there was far more at play than operator error. If you haven't seen the videos, here's a few different angles of the mishap:

As for the vessel in question, the boldly turquoise GO is a 77m (252 ft) luxury motor yacht designed by H2 and built by the aptly named Turquoise Yachts . It is owned by Capri Sun mogul Hans-Peter Wild . Yes, that Capri Sun, the lovable juice in a bag with the world's most challenging straw. It is entirely computer-driven and packed with deluxe appointments including a pool, jacuzzi, elevator, gym, helipad, and steam room. She runs with a crew of 19 and has 7 cabins for up to 12 guests. It was built in Turkey and launched in 2018 with a pricetag of roughly $100 million USD.

As for the events that transpired, captain Simon Johnson was preparing to depart the lagoon via the rotating land bridge (which you can see in the upper frame of the second video). While roughly 50 metres from the bridge and holding position pending the bridge opening, an electronic error began pushing the yacht forward without steering input. The passage itself is precarious enough as GO carries a 13.5 meter (44 ft) beam and has only 50 cm (1.6 ft) of clearance on either side.

Johnson told The Herald , “With not much water between us and the bridge, I always set to align my stern and get parallel well in time for the bridge opening. We left the dock an hour before and went through all the checks. There was nothing different from the other times we’ve done this exit. I was in good shape."

“Then, when we were about 50 metres away and holding position, the yacht started moving mysteriously forward. There was nothing I seemed to be able to do; all the controls on the bridge were showing normal. I called the engine room and everything was normal down there. I found I had extremely limited control, almost limited to only the bow thruster, but with now only 50 metres between us and the bridge I had to make a decision fast."

The ability to prioritize outcomes while under duress is a valuable trait, and the sign of a good captain, and Johnson was able to calculate a remarkable list of outcomes before choosing a course of action.

“I certainly did not want to put the anchor down. That would have been disastrous. By the time the anchor hit the bottom we would have been 30 metres further in. Then we would have pinned the bow upwind, and slewed the stern towards the rocks and the road bridge.

“We have 160,000 litres of fuel on board. If I had done that, I would not only have disabled the bridge, but potentially breached the hull on the rocks beneath and could have caused an oil spill. My preferred option was to point the bow towards the yacht club dock, and beach her gently there. I had a crew member up front shouting a warning to make sure everyone was out of the way.”

After some initial investigation, it was determined Johnson had 13 roughly seconds to choose a course of action. Having made the passage at St. Maarten's 20 times previously, his knowledge of the boat and the lagoon was undoubtedly valuable.

“The fact that there were no warning alarms, no lights on board to indicate something was wrong was really scary. I know this yacht so well, yet I had 13 seconds to make a decision before hitting the bridge. The decision I made was one I would make again if faced with the same circumstances.”

While internet critics were quick to heap blame upon him, Johnson was justifiable in his criticism of the electronics responsible, calling them “ridiculously over the top” and without manual overrides. On GO in particular, there are 14 computers on the bridge with two more below decks. Insurers will now have the tall task of determining the root of the electronic fault, as well as assessing the extent of the damage to GO and the Yacht Club dock before pursuing repairs.

As for Johnson, “I’m proud that we walked away from a crash landing, and most importantly, there was no injury and the island’s arterial road bridge was not compromised,” he said.

The yacht's owner Hans-Peter Wild was also supportive, releasing a public statement in which he declared he is “extremely supportive of the captain’s decisions and performance. Personnel, economic, environmental disaster was averted for the island. I have full faith and confidence in the captain and am very grateful.”

You can see more photos of the impressive GO below:

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Captain of Runaway Vessel ‘GO’ Explains the Crash

Last Friday we brought you footage of the motor yacht GO driving into the docks at St. Maarten. Today we bring you an update. According to the a report in the island’s local newspaper, The Daily Herald , the incident was caused by a computer malfunction that locked the vessel into gear, leading its captain, Simon Johnson, to choose “a deliberate impact with the St. Maarten Yacht Club wooden dock.”

Captain Johnson has driven GO 28,000 miles during his three and a half years with the vessel, and wanted to “set the record straight.” He described the moments that led to the crash and said the vessel started to  malfunction just before they were to pass through the arterial road bridge: “There was nothing I seemed to be able to do; all the controls on the bridge were showing normal. I called the engine room and everything was normal down there.”

The Herald states that GO is “the widest yacht to date to come through the bridge with just 50 centimetres [approximately 19″] of space on each side left to pass.”

“I found I had extremely limited control, almost limited to only the bow thruster, but with now only 50 metres between us and the bridge I had to make a decision fast,” Captain Johnson added.

At this stage GO remains at the dock while waiting for the final assessments and repairs to be completed.

You can read the full story here .

As a licensed electrical engineer and mariner I was fascinated by this accident and pretty much knew what the likely cause of the accident was before reading the full account. I helped an owner with the delivery of his 1 year old Nordhavn 63 from Cabo to San Diego in 2016 with the purpose of the trip to take the boat back to the manufacturer for warranty work. The two major problems were a hydraulic failure that caused loss of steering and $50K of navigation gear that was inoperable. The boat was a marvel of marine engineering but the complexities of the systems aboard made me shake my head in awe. It was an easier boat to maneuver than my 36′ cutter with the computer control of the engines and thrusters. BUT you had to wonder what would happen if there was a glitch in the software. Unlike aircraft that are fly-by-wire the testing of yachts is much, much less stringent than required by the FAA. Expect more interesting videos like this and good on L38 for telling us the rest of the story. BTW, having read the full article it sounds like the pilot…er captain did a great job in dealing with the situation. Bravo to him and here is a toast to the K.I.S.S. principle.

As a guy who has piloted more than my share of both commercial boats and airplanes, I think that trying to pass a superyacht through a bridge with only 19 inches of clearance on each side while subject to wind and tides is just asking for trouble. I am a firm believer in “what can go wrong, will go wrong”.

Funny how this malfunctions occur after an accident, and not anytime during the other 3 years / 22,000 miles this Captain was on this ship safely out at sea.“Computer malfunction” seems unlikely to me. The only evidence of this is from the Captain who crashed it while making a seemingly I’ll-advised difficult pass-through. No diagnostics. No investigation report of yacht systems. No witnesses. And no similar reported “computer malfunctions at any other time – except after a crash.

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Captain of ‘GO’ opens up on mega yacht’s unexplained malfunction

Captain Simon Johnson on the bridge of the mega-yacht “GO”. (Robert Luckock photo)

~ “I am proud that we walked away from a crash landing.”  ~

SIMPSON BAY--Captain of the 77-metre-long mega-yacht GO Simon Johnson has sought to dispel rumours, answer critics and set the record straight in an exclusive interview with The Daily Herald, by describing the moments prior to the yacht’s sudden control malfunction in the crucial minutes of the line-up procedure to exit Simpson Bay Lagoon on Wednesday, February 24.

  He says the incident has inevitably brought his competence into question.

  The ultra-modern yacht built in Turkey in 2018 is entirely computer-driven, yet for all the latest electronics and a bridge brimming with computer screens and displays, the software apparently failed the British captain at the worst possible moment, leading to his choosing a deliberate impact with the St. Maarten Yacht Club wooden dock. 

  A second run-in to the dock was caused by, yet again, a computer miscommunication between the bridge and engine room in a bid to regain control.

  Johnson confirmed that the yacht’s insurance assessors are progressing well in their survey of all the damage sustained to the boat, which is minimal, and the dock, and are engaged to set things right.

  That said, the root causes of the malfunction have not yet been definitively identified and an intensive investigation is underway while the yacht remains at Ile de Sol Marina. 

  Johnson has defended his unblemished record as a captain and his split-second decisions that averted a far worse disaster. Like an airline pilot reacting to something unexpectedly going wrong mid-flight, Johnson was faced with a similar predicament, the difference being there are 400 souls at stake sitting in a plane at 30,000 feet. 

  In some ways, Wednesday’s extraordinary incident was Johnson’s “Miracle in the Lagoon” moment. There were no injuries, no lives lost, there was no oil spill, and the bridge was still intact.

  “I’m proud that we walked away from a crash landing, and most importantly, there was no injury and the island’s arterial road bridge was not compromised,” he said.

   GO’s width is 13.5 metres, the widest yacht to date to come through the bridge with just 50 centimetres of space on each side left to pass ( Limitless is 12.5 metres wide). In that sense, lining up absolutely correctly is key. GO has passed through the bridge in St. Maarten perhaps 20 times unscathed, always with a well- trained crew.

  “With not much water between us and the bridge, I always set to align my stern and get parallel well in time for the bridge opening,” he explained. “We left the dock an hour before and went through all the checks. There was nothing different from the other times we’ve done this exit. I was in good shape. The wind was a brisk 24 knots and we were being pushed towards the bridge. I am familiar with this manoeuvre even in even stronger winds.

  “Then, when we were about 50 metres away and holding position, the yacht started moving mysteriously forward. There was nothing I seemed to be able to do; all the controls on the bridge were showing normal. I called the engine room and everything was normal down there.

  “I found I had extremely limited control, almost limited to only the bow thruster, but with now only 50 metres between us and the bridge I had to make a decision fast. 

  “I certainly did not want to put the anchor down. That would have been disastrous. By the time the anchor hit the bottom we would have been 30 metres further in. Then we would have pinned the bow upwind, and slewed the stern towards the rocks and the road bridge.

  “We have 160,000 litres of fuel on board. If I had done that, I would not only have disabled the bridge, but potentially breached the hull on the rocks beneath and could have caused an oil spill. My preferred option was to point the bow towards the yacht club dock, and beach her gently there. I had a crew member up front shouting a warning to make sure everyone was out of the way.” 

  Johnson said he is deeply upset by the incident, but not concerned for his own record. He has done 28,000 miles on GO during his 3½ years as its captain. He has been in the business for 40 years, 35 as a captain, visited 276 ports on GO alone, and often manoeuvred her in the tightest places.

  “I’m very proud of my handling of yachts,” he stressed. “My biggest concern was not to stop the activity of the island, which I am very fond of, by taking out the bridge. I used to live here and have many friendships over the years.

  “The fact that there were no warning alarms, no lights on board to indicate something was wrong was really scary. I know this yacht so well, yet I had 13 seconds to make a decision before hitting the bridge. The decision I made was one I would make again if faced with the same circumstances.”

  Insurance assessors have arrived, as well as control systems people. The investigations are ongoing as to how an engine can be locked into gear, and why it never showed up. New parts are being flown in. Johnson indicated the investigation should be concluded by the end of this week.

  “We will not leave this dock until Lloyds Insurers approves the repairs and then we will have to do a sea trial to check all the systems. (I might not be at liberty to share a conclusion yet with these investigations ongoing, but it is looking like a computer malfunction seized us into gear). We are of course confident this will be solved.”

  He criticised modern electronics as getting “ridiculously over the top” with no manual overrides or back-ups if something goes wrong. GO has 14 computers on the bridge and two more below decks.

  “Questions have to be asked in this industry about what’s going on; who is building these boats, who is designing them, who is supervising them, and why we aren’t being asked what we (captains) need to operate them,” he said. 

  The owner of GO released the following statement: “The owner is extremely supportive of the captain’s decisions and performance. Personnel, economic, environmental disaster was averted for the island. I have full faith and confidence in the captain and am very grateful.” 

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Daily Nautica

The mega yacht, “GO” crashes against a pier. The video

The 77-metre mega yacht, “go”, launched in 2018, crashed against a wooden pier in the sint maarten yacht club in the caribbean. the accident was caused by a malfunction of the onboard electronic systems.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – GO

Topics: sint maarten yacht club accident

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What caused the fatal sinking of the superyacht Bayesian?

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Video shows moments before superyacht went down in storm off Sicily

Newly released video captures a luxury superyacht being battered by a violent storm before it suddenly sank off Sicily with 22 people aboard Monday.

The grainy images obtained by NBC News and other outlets were recorded on closed-circuit television not far from where the Bayesian was anchored, about a half-mile from the port of Porticello, on Sicily’s northern coast .

The yacht's 250-foot mast, illuminated with lights and lashed by the storm, appears to bend to one side before it finally disappears and is replaced by darkness.

The speed with which a yacht built to handle the roughest seas capsized stunned maritime experts.  

“I can’t remember the last time I read about a vessel going down quickly like that, you know, completely capsizing and going down that quickly, a vessel of that nature, a yacht of that size,” said Stephen Richter of SAR Marine Consulting.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and five of the 22 other people who were aboard the 184-foot vessel remain unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped in the Bayesian’s hull, nearly 170 feet underwater.

Officials confirmed Monday that at least one person, the ship’s cook, had died.  

Superyachts like the Bayesian, which had been available for charters at a rate of $215,000 a week, are designed to stay afloat even as they are taking on water to give the people aboard a chance to escape, Richter said. 

“Boats of this size, they’re taking passengers on an excursion or a holiday,” Richter said. “They are not going to put them in situations where it may be dangerous or it may be uncomfortable, so this storm that popped up was obviously an anomaly. These vessels that carry passengers, they’re typically very well-maintained, very well-appointed.”

Built by Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi in 2008, the U.K.-registered Bayesian could carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10, according to online specialist yacht sites. Its nearly 250-foot mast is the tallest aluminum sailing mast in the world, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters. 

On Tuesday, Italian rescue workers resumed the search for Lynch and the five other passengers still missing: Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife.

“The fear is that the bodies got trapped inside the vessel,” Salvatore Cocina, the head of civil protection in Sicily, told Reuters .

The Bayesian is owned by a firm linked to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who was one of the 15 people rescued Monday after it capsized.

“It’s extremely rare for a boat of this size to sink,” Richter said.

What’s not rare is the kind of storm that sank it , said Simon Boxall, senior lecturer in oceanography at Britain’s University of Southampton.

“People assume the Mediterranean is this rather calm and passive place that never gets storms and always blue skies,” Boxall said. “In fact, you get some quite horrendous storms that are not uncommon at this time of year.”

The president of Italy’s meteorological society has said Monday’s violent storm may have involved a waterspout, essentially a tornado over water, or a downburst, which occurs more frequently but doesn’t involve the rotation of the air.

Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorology Society, also said recent temperatures may have been a factor. 

“The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius [86 Fahrenheit], which is almost 3 degrees more than normal,” Mercalli told Reuters. “This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms.”

The Mediterranean sailing vacation was designed to be a celebration for Lynch, who two months ago was acquitted by a San Francisco jury of fraud charges stemming from the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion.

Prosecutors alleged that Lynch, dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates,” and Autonomy’s vice president for finance, Stephen Chamberlain, had padded the firm’s finances ahead of the sale. Lynch’s lawyers argued that HP was so eager to acquire Autonomy that it failed to adequately check the books .

Lynch had taken Morvill, who was one of his defense attorneys, on the luxury trip. 

Chamberlain was not on the Bayesian.

In what appears to be a tragic coincidence, a car struck and killed Chamberlain on Saturday as he was jogging in a village about 68 miles north of London, local police said.

“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family,” Chamberlain’s lawyer, Gary Lincenberg, said in a statement .

Henry Austin reported from London and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.

Henry Austin is a senior editor for NBC News Digital based in London.

Corky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital.

By Conor Feasey 12 Aug 2024

Update: Steve Jobs’ “unmanned” yacht collides with Lady Moura

In an official update provided to superyachtnews, it appears venus’ bridge was unmanned at the time of a minor collision that has sparked debate online….

An eyebrow-raising incident occurred off the coast of Naples, Italy, on 22 July 2024, involving a collision between Venus , owned by the widow of Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Lady Moura , owned by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego.

In a statement provided to SuperyachtNews by Grupo Salinas, it appears that the bridge of Venus was unmanned at the time of the collision.

“ Lady Moura was anchored in the Bay of Naples at a depth of 40 metres, deploying 7 shackles of chain, which meets the minimum requirements for safe anchoring under the given conditions,” the spokesperson explained.

“This was calculated in accordance with the standards of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). The length in metres was determined using a coefficient of hold of 5, or per the Admiralty method, which calculates the number of shackles as the square root of the water depth in metres, multiplied by 1.5.

“Several hours later, Venus arrived at the anchorage and seemingly misjudged the length of the chain deployed by Lady Moura. A sudden and violent squall with winds of 50-55 knots from an unexpected direction—different from the prevailing forecasts—led to the impact between the vessels.”

However, despite numerous efforts by the crew of Lady Moura to alert the crew of Venus by blowing the whistle and hailing on the radio, “it appears that the bridge of Venus was unmanned”. Notably, neither vessel dragged anchor during the event.

“Thankfully, the damages to both yachts were minimal and cosmetic. Within hours, both parties resolved the situation amicably and professionally. Grupo Salinas appreciates the professionalism demonstrated by all involved and the swift resolution to ensure the safety and integrity of the vessels and their crews.”

Footage from the crash, posted on 7 August, has since sparked considerable debate online.

The video, shared by Pliego on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows the 78-metre Feadship drifting towards Pliego’s yacht before making contact with the 105-metre Blohm+Voss yacht, despite cries from the crew. Both vessels were anchored in the bay at the time.

“You won’t believe this, but our yacht was hit while we were in Naples,” said Pliego in a tweet.

“Steve Jobs’ yacht, founder of Apple (now owned by his wife Laurene), hit us while we were anchored off Naples. I’d like to know what the captain and crew were doing that they didn’t see a yacht the size of mine in front of them.”

Pliego added that the collision ultimately resulted in nothing more than a scratch; however, it will need substantial funds to repair it. The billionaire then jokingly suggested to his followers to “go and buy Apple products to help them pay”.

Whilst the spokesperson has since noted that the crash was due to a change in wind, the competency of the crew has come under fire, with many questioning how this incident was possible in the first place.

“The crew on the yacht Venu s were twiddling their thumbs; there’s no way they couldn’t see the Lady Moura ,” says Fabian Alonso (@fabianla69) on X.

“It’s incredible that no crew member came out to place a fender anywhere; it seems like a ship adrift,” adds cafas (@cafascafas).

Despite the incident, the yachts have since cruised elsewhere, with Lady Moura now in Mykonos, Greece, and Venus sailing in the Ligurian Sea.

“Here is the video, so you can see that there is no shortage of idiots in the world and understand how important it is to have a responsible and attentive captain in command,” adds Pliego. “There’s no other way, we’re going to continue enjoying our holidays.”

No me lo van a creer pero nos chocaron el yate mientras estábamos en Nápoles. Les cuento ☕️… el yate de Steve Jobs fundador de Apple (ahora de su esposa Laurene), nos pegó mientras estábamos anclados frente a Nápoles. Yo quisiera saber que andaba haciendo el capitán y la… pic.twitter.com/R1XVzZFGkD — Don Ricardo Salinas Pliego (@RicardoBSalinas) August 7, 2024

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