$10M Yacht Capsizes Before First Sail

Millions of dollars went into the drink, if not down the drain, Sunday night as a yacht worth at least $10 million capsized as it was being delivered to its owner in Washington state's Puget Sound. As KIRO TV and the Skagit Valley Herald report, some five or six crew members employed by the yacht's builder were putting the boat into shallow waters in Anacortes when it immediately began to tilt. Several attempted to adjust the ballast in the engine room of the Bäden, but without success. The engine room began to flood, and one man had to be removed through a port hole that rescuers chopped out with an ax.

A spokesman for yacht builder Northern Marine, which will have to bear the cost of the salvage, tells the Herald that the ship took two and a half years to build. It's likely a lot of effort and money wasted: The 85-foot fiberglass hull is expected to be salvageable, but "everything inside is toast—everything. Nothing's made to be submerged in salt water." The owner of the yacht was not identified. Maritime website gCaptain notes that the Bäden was, per an engineering firm employed by the builder, "lighter than other Northern Marine builds of similar length, thus requiring more ballast to sit on a desired waterline." The firm advised final ballasting take place at launch, but exactly why the yacht capsized is unclear. The US Coast Guard will investigate. (Click for another unusual story involving a yacht ... and Louis CK.)