The megayacht Saga sank just off of Catanzaro. The incident took place on Saturday, 20 August, at the end of desperate attempts to tow the yacht to shallow waters in the hopes of beaching it. But the vessel had already taken on too much water and, while it was being towed, it sank at around 9 miles form the Catanzaro coast.

During the night, while sailing from Gallipoli to Milazzo, the crew of the Saga, around 40 metres long and flying a Cayman Islands flag, sent an SOS to the operations room of the Crotone Port Authority, claiming the ship was taking on water in the stern. The military diverted a Romanian patrol vessel working for Frontex and sent a CP 321 patrol vessel from Crotone.

The four passengers and one crew member were rescued by the Romanian patrol and then transferred onto the CP 321 and taken to Catanzaro Marina, while the company owning the boat called a towing company from Crotona in an attempt to save the vessel.

The tugboat, Alessandro II arrived and began towing the boat to Crotone, the only port where the pleasure boat could have entered, taking on board another four crew members, including the captain.

The difficult weather and constant careening of the yacht made rescue operations increasingly complex, so much so that it was decided they could not reach Crotone, and decided to try and save it by beaching it. In the meantime, the water level on board continued to rise until it covered the upper part of the yacht, and rescue operations became dangerous for the tugboat, leaving no choice but to cut the tow line, leaving the ship, which quickly sank.

The video shows the attempts at towing the vessel, until the rescuers decided to cut the line. In their words we hear them state that the mission was becoming increasingly difficult, until they had to give it up. The entire crew of the Saga was rescued and taken by the CP 321 patrol boat to Catanzaro Marina in good health.

The cause of the leak leading to the vessel’s sinking is still unknown, but the Locamare from the Italian Coast Guard has already begun investigations. The m/y Saga was 39.4 metres long and had a beam of 8.4 metres. It was built in 2007 by  Monaco Yachting & Technologies. The exterior design was by Tim Heywood Design, while the interior was by Jean-Marc Achy architecte dplg. It could hold up to 12 passengers in 6 cabins and had a maximum speed of 14 knots.