A small sail boat rammed the  mega yacht, A, one of the most expensive luxury sailing yachts in the world, which resulted in damage to the hull, albeit only “aesthetic” damage.

The accident took place just off Vigo, Spain, were a 5-metre sail boat collided with one of the largest sailing vessels in the world, owned by the Russian oligarch, Andrey Melnichenko. 143 metres long, its cost 460 million dollars. The yacht, built in the  Nobiskrug Shipyard in Hamburg, was designed by Philippe Starck.

On the sail boat was a family of pleasure boaters who, probably curious about the size of the sailing ship, came in closer to see it “better”. However, the size of mega yacht A caused a sudden drop in wind, making the small vessel impossible to navigate. A member of the crew realised what was about to happen when he looked out from the garage of the tender (taking a photo, as can be seen in the video).

A few seconds later, the vessel was rammed, the sail boat’s mast got caught between the open garage door and the hull of the ship. Nearby was a motor boat, about to come closer to help, but in the meantime, the captain of the sail boat was able to turn on the auxiliary engine and get away from the large luxury ship.

The damage, however, was already done. As can be seen in the final image in the video, the small boat left very visible scratches on the hull of the mega yacht.

“Aesthetic” damage to the hull of mega yacht A after being “rammed”

Video and photos: Twitter / Dury Alonso

Giuseppe Orrù