A luxury yacht worth nearly $1 million capsized and sank only minutes after it touched the water for the first time. The event happened off the coast of Zonguldak in northern Turkey. The yacht’s owner and crew of three were forced to abandon ship and swim to safety.
Featured VideoVideo footage captured the vessel, named Dolce Vento, tilting rapidly before plunging beneath the waves. A man believed to be the owner climbed out to the side of the yacht until he finally jumped into the water and swam to shore.
Turkish yacht Dolce Vento sinks 15 minutes into its maiden voyage
According to reports, the 23.9-meter yacht had only just been delivered after five months of construction at the Med Yilmaz Shipyard. It sank to a depth of about seven meters offshore in the Eregli district on Tuesday, Sept 2, barely 15 minutes into its maiden launch.
AdvertisementReports say that the yacht’s captain and two crew members also jumped into the water. Additionally, no one was harmed in the sinking of the yacht. Coast Guard and port teams immediately established a security perimeter around the site of the yacht sinking, while crews arrived to begin recovery operations.
Shipyard representatives announced that investigators would examine the wreck. Experts suggested, based on the video, that there were stability issues with the yacht. One common issue mentioned by them and on social media is an error in the metacentric height calculations.
This involves the distance between the center of gravity of an object, such as a boat, and its metacenter. This equation determines whether the object will stay stable or capsize when tilted. These investigations are all ongoing.
AdvertisementSocial media quickly mocked the sinking
News of the accident spread quickly on X, where folks wasted no time joking about the ill-fated launch. One post read, “Jesus, if $950,000 in Turkey buys you this much boat then we need to stop going over for hair and get yachts instead.”
Others cracked jokes about bargain shopping. @Veritas7891 quipped, “When you order a yacht from Wish.” Meanwhile, @CatsandDogsmem called it a “cheap” yacht, while another user claimed it looked like something bought on Temu.
AdvertisementSeveral posts poked fun at the shipbuilder. One person wrote, “That boat company is awesome. Sails are through the roof.” Another comment from @KaegensNews listed a mock checklist: “Collect check ✅ Food in fridge ✅ Ballast the tanks 🥴.”
“The ocean simply hates rich people,” quipped @MindyFurano.
Some reactions, however, speculated on the technical issues behind the disaster.
AdvertisementX user @WTCryptKeeper suggested, “Looks like an error in the calculation of the Center Of Gravity v.s. the Center of Buoyancy.”
Despite the humor, many users expressed disbelief that such an expensive vessel lasted less than 20 minutes afloat.
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