It was one of the summer’s biggest viral moments: On August 13, the 29.6-meter motor yacht Angiola II sank off Capo Ferro on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda after a fire in the engine room caused a leak. The vessel listed heavily to starboard before capsizing and sinking to a depth of seven meters.
Of the 14 people on board, 12—including guests and crew—were transferred to another nearby vessel, while the owner and a companion remained on board until they were rescued by a patrol boat dispatched to the scene. No injuries have been reported. The La Maddalena Coast Guard participated in the operation. Containment booms have been placed around the hull as a precautionary measure, and no fuel spills have been detected so far. The owner has hired a salvage company to remove the wreckage from the area, while the investigation into the causes of the engine failure continues.
According to several local media outlets, the Angiola II had been delivered four days before the accident, following a recent sale. According to some media outlets, such as the NY Post, the sale price was around eight million euros, while Boat International puts it at around five million.
Launched in 2020 by the Italian shipyard Permare under the Amer Yachts brand, the sunken vessel was an Amer F100 and could accommodate ten guests in five cabins, in addition to housing five crew members. It featured naval architecture and exterior design by Verme Projects, was powered by four Volvo Penta engines, and had a gross tonnage of 145 GT.
Amer Yachts co-CEO Barbara Amerio stated that “this is a used vessel, launched in 2020 and sold several times since then; the most recent sale, between private parties, was handled by external brokers not affiliated with the shipyard. We took charge of the boat’s maintenance while it was under warranty. Like everyone else, we are relieved that the passengers and crew are safe, and like everyone else, we await the official findings—the tanks are structural double-bottom tanks; if the boat is salvaged properly, there will be no fuel leaks. It pains us to see a ship sink that we dedicated a year and a half of work to, caring for it—like all of ours—down to the last detail.”