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KUALA LUMPUR, February 21: A multi-million dollar sailing yacht once owned by French magnate Bernard Tapie sank off the coast of Malaysia, an official confirmed Sunday, after it caught fire a few days ago.
Malaysia’s coast guard said the 75-meter (246-foot) Phocea sank near the holiday island of Langkawi early Friday morning, a day after a fire engulfed the four-masted yacht.
“We thought it sank on Friday morning, around five or six in the morning,” senior coast guard official Mohamad Zawawi Abdullah told AFP.
“We were able to control the fire, but the damage to the hull caused by the fire may have caused the yacht to sink.”
He added that government officials were investigating the cause of the fire and that the agent in charge of the boat had been informed of the sinking.
Seven crew members were saved from the ship after rescuers were alerted to the fire on Thursday.
Built for French sailor Alain Colas in 1976, the yacht was owned by Tapie in the 1980s and 1990s.
It was later sold to a wealthy Lebanese woman for 36.5 million francs (7.5 million euros today), according to media reports.
Tapie is a former socialist minister who emerged from humble beginnings to build a sports and media empire, but then faced a series of legal problems.
He made a fortune in the early part of his career taking over bankrupt companies and flaunted his wealth. Besides the yacht, he bought a football club. AFP
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