Well, that certainly made a big splash, didn't it? A superyacht had a Titanic moment in the Chesapeake Bay over the weekend. Sadly, there were no Leonardo Dicaprio cosplayers on board. However, the boat ended up going under the sea — sort of.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The superyacht was so big that it didn't actually fully sink into the Chesapeake Bay. Only half of the boat sank while the other half poked out of the water as the aerial video below shows. The boat capsizing wasn't without its drama. Passengers had to jump from the vessel, dropping into the water below. It led to an intense rescue.
The superyacht was called Lovebug. It's a 122-foot vessel that ended up going underwater. Around noon on Saturday, the boat started taking on water. Unfortunately for the owner, the $8 million vessel ended up sinking near the mouth of the West River.
A fellow boater, Trevor Hardman, realized that people needed help and came to their aid.
37m Sanlorenzo motor yacht LoveBug run aground in Chesapeake Bay, USA
? Video 1 by MangoTube - YouTube | Video 2 via @thequalifiedcaptainhttps://t.co/DY7b7Hyec8 pic.twitter.com/Z8CijvzkWD
— SuperYacht Times (@sytreports) July 29, 2024
"It slowly started to list and lean over to one side," Hardman, who works at Boat Annapolis, said. "I would say within four to five minutes the boat was consumed and the captain had made the determination that they needed to abandon ship."
Superyacht Sank
According to authorities, there were five people on the yacht. They all jumped into the water from the stern of the ship. Hardman radio for assistance upon discovering the scene. Fortunately, first responders arrived and managed to help those involved. According to Hardman, the captain of the superyacht was not aware of what caused the incident.
"In the moment, I was like, 'Did you run aground? He was like, 'No ... We were taking on water,'" Hardman said. "Boats of that size have alarms that tell you when there's water inside the boat."
Currently, police are investigating what caused the boat to sink. "The biggest thing now is just to get the vessel salvaged so that we can hopefully get some clues as to what happened," said Cpl. Christopher Neville of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police.
Following the sinking, first responders set up a containment barrier to brace for a potential fuel leak. Following the sinking, one person complained about their head hurting.
"It could have been a lot worse had everybody not remained calm and spoke on the radio and were clear to make sure that everybody was accounted for," Hardman also said.
