Superyacht MY SONG Lost from Cargo Ship During Transport

MY Song. Photo: Baltic Yachts

The big story from over the weekend was without question the loss of the 40-meter sailing yacht MY Song in the Mediterranean Sea after the superyacht fell from the deck of the cargo ship that was transporting it.

The award-winning yacht, owned by Italian billionaire Pier Luigi Loro Piana, was being transported aboard the general cargo ship MV Brattinsborg when the incident occurred early Saturday morning.

Yacht transport company Peters & May confirmed some of the details of the incident in a statement from its CEO, David Holley, on Tuesday. Holley said the company was informed of the incident early on Saturday, 26 May.

“Upon receipt of the news Peters & May instructed the captain of the MV Brattinsborg to attempt salvage whilst 3rd party salvors were appointed,” Holley said in the statement.

“The vessel maintained visual contact with My Song until the air and sea search was initiated. As of 0900hr BST on 28th May 2019 the salvage attempts are still ongoing,” Holley said.

Photos leaked to the media show the yacht partially sunk:

ESCLUSIVA – Direttamente interpellata dalla nostra redazione in relazione alla perdita del 130’ My Song di Pigi Loro Piana, la compagnia Peters&May, incaricata del trasporto dello yacht dai Caraibi a Genova risponde con un… https://t.co/PxZONd15qj pic.twitter.com/amd2SFuLEC

— Giornale della Vela (@giornalevela) May 28, 2019

The MV Brattinsborg has since been instructed to continue its voyage to Genoa, Italy with remaining yachts still on board.

An undated photo below shows the MY Song loaded on the Brattinsborg cargo ship:

Holley’s statement also shed some light on the possible cause of the incident, blaming the loss on a failure of the yacht’s cradle that was provided by, warrantied, and assembled by the yacht’s owner and crew.

“A full investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched, however the primary assessment is that the yacht’s cradle (owned and provided by the yacht, warrantied by the yacht for sea transport and assembled by the yacht’s crew) collapsed during the voyage from Palma to Genoa and subsequently resulted in the loss of MY SONG overboard. I will add that this is the initial assessment and is subject to confirmation in due course,” Holley said.

The MY Song was built by Baltic Yachts in 2016. The company describes the yacht as a high-performance, all-carbon yacht built for both cruising and racing:

The Baltic 130 My Song is a state of the art, multi-role custom superyacht combining performance and light displacement with a stunning contemporary interior providing an immensely comfortable cruising platform. Since the delivery in 2016 My Song has won several awards and was judged best yacht at World Superyacht Awards.

Naval architects Reichel/Pugh used the latest design programs to produce a seriously high-performance sailing yacht while Nauta Design was responsible for the overall styling, deck and interior design. My Song took 22 months to build and was launched on time despite design changes, modifications and the installation of a new propulsion system.

This all carbon yacht features interchangeable mainsails for cruising or racing and Baltic’s latest retractable propulsion system which rotates though 180 degrees to double as a stern thruster and a keel fin more akin to maxi raceboat design. The Baltic 130 custom’s plumb bow and wide transom exploit the speed benefits of a long waterline and powerful stern sections to meet the owner’s demands for a really effective race boat.

The interior accommodation is for six to eight guests including the owner, the focal point being a spectacular deck saloon with hull and superstructure ports, plus skylights providing panoramic outboard views.

The MY Song was headed from the Caribbean to Italy where it was due to compete in the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta next week, in which it was the returning champion. 

CEO David Holley’s full statement is provided below: 

This press release is in response to the ongoing media speculation in reference to the loss of sailing yacht MY SONG in the Mediterranean.

We would not normally comment on cargo incidents but given the high-profile nature of this yacht and the media interest we feel that we need to formally give some clarification. There are several individuals passing judgement on what may or may not have happened and we will attempt to offer some clarity, albeit at an early stage of the investigation. Our reputation is second to none and we will not have it tarnished by unqualified individuals passing judgement without facts in hand. I will add that I am disappointed that confidential photographs were leaked to the media.

We were informed of the loss of a yacht from the deck of the MV Brattinsborg at approximately 0400hr LT on 26^thMay 2019. The yacht is sailing yacht MY SONG. Upon receipt of the news Peters & May instructed the captain of the MV Brattinsborg to attempt salvage whilst 3^rd party salvors were appointed.

The vessel maintained visual contact with MY SONG until the air and sea search was initiated. As of 0900hr BST on 28^th May 2019 the salvage attempts are still ongoing. To ensure the safety of the remaining yachts, Peters & May have instructed the carrying vessel to continue her planned voyage to Genoa. No other yachts have been affected by this incident.

A full investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched, however the primary assessment is that the yacht’s cradle (owned and provided by the yacht, warrantied by the yacht for sea transport and assembled by the yacht’s crew) collapsed during the voyage from Palma to Genoa and subsequently resulted in the loss of MY SONG overboard. I will add that this is the initial assessment and is subject to confirmation in due course.

As a leading yacht transporter for the past 40 years we take great pride in what we do and go above and beyond all standard operating procedures to ensure safe transit of all yachts carried by us. We have procedures in place to respond to this kind of incident, although we hope that they are never required.

This incident is more than regrettable, however the transport of yachts on cargo vessels continues to be one of the safest and most cost-effective solutions when carried out by a reputable company such as Peters & May.

More information will be made available in due course but in the meantime, I request that everyone respects the sensitivity of this issue to all parties concerned. -END-

We’ll update as more information becomes available.