Benetti superyacht Lalibela severely damaged by major fire

42-metre (138-foot) Benetti-built superyacht Lalibela has suffered significant damage after a fire broke out on board over the weekend.

Emergency services were called to Vallauris harbour near Cannes, France, in the early hours of Saturday morning (13th October) to tackle the blaze. According to L’essentiel, two seamen escaped the vessel without injury.

A video posted on Instagram shows the ferocity of the fire – which is reported to have destroyed the top deck and numerous cabins inside.

View this post on Instagram

Hope he updated the insurance policy #yacht #fire

A post shared by I Love Cannes (@i_love_cannes) on Oct 13, 2018 at 6:20am PDT

 

Two firefighters were injured as a result of the blaze, and suffered ringing in their ears following an explosion. Lalibela remained berthed during the incident, while neighbouring yachts were moved to ensure no further damage was inflicted. To limit the impact as much as possible, the fire service also deployed floating pollution booms into the harbour.

Lalibela was built in 1972 by Benetti, and underwent a refit in 2013. She could accommodate up to 12 guests across six cabins, as well as a crew of up to 10. She could achieve a top speed of 15 knots and boasted a maximum cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles at 13.5 knots.

In a recent report, SuperyachtNews stated that superyacht insurance premiums were on the rise after a spate of fire-related incidents. In September alone, fires broke out and damaged both M/Y Kanga and an as yet unnamed new-build at Lurssen’s shipyard in Bremen – the latter of which is expected to trigger an insurance pay-out in the region of €600 million.

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