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Introducing ‘the expert panel’ on superyachts.com.

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The Final Amels 200 MARSA Departs Damen Yachting Shipyard

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SuperYachtTimes.com is the leading superyacht website, updated daily with the most relevant and interesting superyacht news and information. In addition, SuperYacht Times also publishes the quarterly newspaper, The SuperYacht Times, in which readers around the world enjoy compelling superyacht stories and unique features from some of the industry’s most influential players, all accompanied by crisp, fresh photography.

“Often people only see the luxury associated with superyachts, but there is a lot more to it than that. It all starts from that first moment of creation – what other object can you create from a blank piece of paper, which is then made by skilled craftspeople exactly to your wishes? The whole process involves so many different kinds of trades and materials. There is something magical about it. From that point onwards, your enjoyment of the yacht only increases – exploring new places, experiencing new cultures and having the time of your life with family and friends from your home on the water. I believe that as an industry we can do a lot more to promote all of this and elevate the image of yachting worldwide.” – Merijn de Waard, Advisor to the Board and Director of SuperYacht Times

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Luxury Superyacht Luminance Docks in Gruž Port: A Floating Beauty Worth €500 Million

The luxury superyacht Luminance made a grand appearance in Dubrovnik today. Valued at a staggering €500 million, this floating marvel has just hit the waters this year and is already making waves.

At just under 140 meters long, Luminance is a true behemoth, crafted by the renowned German shipbuilders at Lürssen Yachts. It’s currently ranked 21st on the global list of the largest yachts. The owner of Luminance, according to the New York Times, is the Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov. He is the founder of investment holding company System Capital Management.

The Luminance isn’t just about size—it’s about luxury. It boasts accommodation for up to 40 guests, ensuring plenty of space for relaxation and entertainment. Onboard, guests can indulge in a spa treatment, visit the cosmetic salon, or enjoy the exclusive beach club. Other high-end features include underwater lighting, a state-of-the-art gym, a jacuzzi on the deck, and all the modern conveniences like WiFi and air conditioning.

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Koru is going to be the world’s largest sailing yacht which will be owned by the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos and will have striking features to amaze the world. The billionaire is paying a hefty amount for the superyacht which will cover all the running costs for the sensational structure.

Koru - Fusion of Modern Art and Classical Style, Sustainability

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Who was on superyacht that sank off Sicily?

Twenty-two people were on board the Bayesian superyacht including British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his wife and 18-year-old daughter, and Morgan Stanley International boss Jonathan Bloomer.

Friday 23 August 2024 12:34, UK

Details have emerged of the 22 people who were on board the superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily.

The British-flagged vessel named Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 members of crew when it got into difficulty in the early hours of Monday.

Seven bodies have now been recovered. The other 15 people on board were rescued.

Here's what we know about those who were on the yacht.

Follow latest updates on the superyacht sinking

British technology tycoon Mike Lynch was among the original six people missing. On Thursday, divers confirmed his body had been recovered.

Raised in Ilford, east London by Irish parents, the 59-year-old made millions with the software company Autonomy he set up in 1996.

He had an estimated net worth of £852m, according to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List, and is believed to have owned the yacht.

Off the back of Automomy's global success, Mr Lynch was given the roles of science adviser to former prime minister David Cameron and non-executive director of the BBC.

The Cambridge maths and sciences graduate sold the firm for £8.64bn to US giant Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011.

Dubbed the "British Bill Gates", Mr Lynch has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case related to the sale of Autonomy to HP in 2011.

HP accused him of deliberately overstating the value of the company before it was acquired by the American technology firm. Mr Lynch denied any wrongdoing.

In June, a US jury cleared him of all charges .

Read more: Lynch's co-defendant dies days before yacht disaster

Hannah Lynch

Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch was also on board. A body believed to be that of the teenager was recovered on Friday from the yacht wreckage.

She had been on holiday with her parents, having secured a place to study English at the University of Oxford, according to reports.

Her former school, Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, west London, said they were "incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic accident" when the yacht first sank.

Angela Bacares

Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares was on board the yacht and was rescued.

The 57-year-old said she and Mr Lynch were awoken by the boat "tilting" at 4am - half an hour before it sank.

Jonathan Bloomer

Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley International, was confirmed dead on Thursday.

According to the Financial Times, Mr Bloomer appeared as a defence witness for Mr Lynch during his US criminal trial and the pair were good friends. He also chaired Autonomy's audit committee.

The 70-year-old was the chief executive of UK-Hong Kong insurer Prudential until he was ousted by the board in 2005.

He was also chairman of the insurance provider Hiscox.

Judy Bloomer

Mr Bloomer's wife Judy was on the yacht trip with her husband. Divers confirmed they found her body on Thursday.

Mrs Bloomer was a former board member at The Eve Appeal charity, which focuses on gynaecological cancers.

The charity described her as a "brilliant champion for women's health and medical research... an incredible supporter, committee member, and trustee of our charity for over 20 years".

Read more: 'Alarming' potential cause of superyacht disaster What we know about superyacht that sank

Recaldo Thomas

The yacht's on-board chef Recaldo Thomas died in the sinking.

He was Canadian-Antiguan and part of the crew of the Bayesian.

His body was the first to be recovered from the wreckage.

Chris Morvillo

US lawyer Chris Morvillo was among those divers found dead on Thursday.

The father-of-two worked on Mr Lynch's US fraud trial and was a partner of law firm Clifford Chance's US branch.

Mr Morvillo was assistant attorney for the Southern District of New York between 1995 and 2005 and worked on the terrorist investigation into the 9/11 attacks.

In a recent LinkedIn post, he thanked the legal team that helped win Mr Lynch's trial.

Signing off the post, he said: "And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.

"None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after…."

Neda Morvillo

Mr Morvillo's wife Neda died in the disaster alongside her husband.

The 57-year-old had a luxury jewellery brand, which she ran under her maiden name Neda Nassiri.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Ayla Ronald

Ayla Ronald, a senior associate at Clifford Chance, survived the yacht disaster, the law firm confirmed.

The 36-year-old worked alongside Chris Morvillo in helping defend Mike Lynch in court.

Clifford Chance said in a statement: "Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident."

She is originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, but lives in London, her father told local media there.

He said she was left "very shaken" but "she and her partner are alive".

Charlotte Golunski

Charlotte Golunski was on board the yacht and was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter, Sofia.

She spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, confirming she survived the yacht sinking and told how she kept her daughter alive after she was rescued.

"I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning," she said.

"It was all dark. In the water I couldn't keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others."

The 35-year-old is a partner at one of Mr Lynch's firms - Invoke Capital - and has worked there since 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She also worked at Hewlett Packard, which acquired Autonomy in 2011, for 11 months.

Before that, she studied history at the University of Oxford.

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James Emsley

Ms Golunski's partner James Emsley was also rescued from the yacht, according to Sicily's civil protection agency.

The 36-year-old is the father of her one-year-old daughter.

James Cutfield

The 51-year-old captain of the yacht spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica after he was rescued.

Mr Cutfield, from New Zealand, was taken for treatment at the Termini Imerese emergency unit, where he told the newspaper: "We didn't see it coming."

Leah Randall

Leah Randall was part of the Bayesian crew and survived the sinking.

She was pictured going ashore in Porticello on Monday morning and is from South Africa.

Her mother Heidi told Sky News said she was "beyond relieved that my daughter's life was spared by the grace of God".

"It doesn't make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives [or are] missing. My very deepest condolences to the chef's family as they formed a great friendship," she said.

Katja Chicken

Katja Chicken was another South African member of crew on board the Bayesian and was pictured being brought to safety in Porticello on Monday.

The Italian coastguard confirmed on Tuesday evening that Leo Eppel, a crew member, also survived the yacht sinking.

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• Superyacht sinking

I took a $13,000 pay cut to work as a deckhand on a superyacht. I don't regret it as it gave me a career I can grow in.

• Nathan Marx was a quality controller in South Africa but decided to switch to becoming a superyacht deckhand.
• Marx said the job has more growth potential than his previous job and helped him develop more meaningful relationships.
• Working around the wealthy has shown Marx that success is attainable and wealth doesn't change people's core natures.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nathan Marx, a deckhand for a superyacht. It has been edited for length and clarity.

From 2020 to the end of 2023, I was a quality controller at an engineering company that made mining machinery in South Africa, I managed 132 employees and earned 3,000 euros, around $3,333 a month.

My future was pretty secure at the company, but I lacked that sense of adventure and felt like there was more to life than working away every day and not seeing the world as I would like.

I knew some friends who had entered the yachting industry since leaving school, and it looked very intriguing and adventurous.

My previous job had long hours and was hard work, which made me comfortable stepping into the yachting industry.

When I started working on deckhand certification courses in January this year, I was told about these massive yachting hubs where it'd be easier to find work opportunities because they were saturated with boats.

Related stories

One of those was Antibes, France. I moved there in May this year and traveled the entire coastline of the south of France, dock walking daily, exploring the vessels, and putting myself out there to catch the right opportunity.

I started documenting my job search on TikTok on the day I left for France. I was very nervous that I didn't have a job yet, and I wanted to stand out and get a step ahead in my job search. I love expressing myself through video creation, so the two went hand in hand.

I met this girl who works on this vessel docked in Monaco for the season. She saw my videos, and we got to know each other. I was the first person she contacted when they needed a deckhand. So it's all about getting in front of the right people's eyes.

My role on the yacht is to ensure the boat's exterior is pristine. Everything regarding the exterior, from the hull to the deck, to any furniture outside, is my responsibility to ensure that it is presentable for guests. I also help with basic watchkeeping when the yacht is out at sea.

Now, three months in, I'm at the bottom of the food chain and I'm earning 1,000 euros less every month than I did back in South Africa. But this career has room for growth and will keep me above the ceiling that I reached in South Africa in my management job.

One thing I realized working on yachts is that you live in the same space as your coworkers. If something bothers you about a person and you keep quiet, it builds within you and just sours the relationship on board. You have to foster a relationship with them that is a lot more fruitful than a normal employee would.

I think I also value that because not only am I getting to travel or experience all these crazy things that normal people in a 9-to-5 usually won't, but I'm also meeting people and creating connections with them that'll last a lifetime instead. That real connection with people also gives me satisfaction.

Having a life outside this industry might be challenging because anything can happen at the last minute. You might have time to spare one moment, but you're expecting guests the next, and you're suddenly back to work for a week. So whatever you have planned just needs to fall on the back burner.

But the maritime industry here sets out work-life balance very well, and I think that's also one of the things that drew me to the yachting industry because my previous job did not value my personal life. So, after the hard work, I get a lot of off time, and I have time to go and experience things and step off.

One of my favorite places I visited was a beautiful little town on a hill with an absurd history called Bonifacio, on the island of Corsica, France. We also had the privilege of hiking up into the old city, an amazing experience I don't think I would've had otherwise if I wasn't into the yachting industry.

I once spoke to a person who's been in the industry for around nine years. He told me about chartering Will Smith and all these big A-list star names, which sounded so enticing. I haven't had any of those or any experiences like that, but the individuals we meet on this boat are very high-net-worth because renting the vessel I work on costs about 78,000 euros a week.

We once had a client with 3.2 million Instagram followers on board and had a normal conversation with her. It was humbling to me because you always think these people will be different or special in some way, but at the end of the day, they're just normal people. She never mentioned anything about her success once. It was so normal that I was surprised.

It's very motivating to be surrounded by individuals like that because they make you feel that their success is possible for you, too.

The superyacht industry is unlike other luxury sectors. The places people visit are so unique that not everyone gets to see them. The cost involved is also quite exorbitant, with some yachts going for 500,000 euros a week. So, the client has a level of expectation of luxury they want to receive, and you have to live up to very high standards that no other luxury industry has.

My career can progress from here in many ways, and I'm trying to explore all those avenues. But the yachting industry is a tight-knit community that's made me very happy over the past few months, so I'll stay for as long as possible.

Do you have a story to share about working around high-net-worth individuals? Email this reporter at [email protected] .

Watch: While Delta's business is 'extremely robust,' the airline's marketing chief stays focused on the data

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Titan Submersible Company Neglected Safety Concerns, Ex-Employees Say

Former employees of the company, OceanGate, said they worried about its practices long before a fatal implosion that killed five people. A Coast Guard hearing resumes on Tuesday.

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Former OceanGate Employees Testify at Hearing on Titan Implosion

The coast guard’s first public hearing on oceangate’s fatal titan submersible accident revealed that the crew had sent a message saying, “all good here,” shortly before the vessel imploded..

“I stopped the 2019 Titanic dive because the data, the instrumentation that I put on it, wasn’t good, and I was fired for it. What I got from Stockton [Rush] is, ‘The board said that you should have known this was happening.’ And I said, ‘Well, let me point you to exhibits A, B, C and D that I’ve been telling you.’” “Did you ever have any safety concerns while you were employed at OceanGate? And if so, what were those concerns?” “I did. As a pilot in training, there were a couple of things that gave me pause. There was the acrylic dome. We had heard that there was paperwork on it, and we wanted to see that paperwork, and Tony [Nissen] wouldn’t let us see it. So that was my first red flag. It became abundantly clear to me that OceanGate was not the place I wanted to work, if that was our attitude towards safety.”

By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and William J. Broad

The company operating the Titan submersible, which imploded in the ocean last year, killing five people on board, was plagued with equipment problems in the years before the disaster, and had fired an engineering director who would not approve a deepwater expedition, according to testimony at a Coast Guard hearing on Monday.

The Titan had experienced dozens of problems during previous expeditions, including 70 equipment issues in 2021 and 48 more in 2022, investigators revealed on Monday, the first day of two weeks of testimony on what went wrong during the submersible’s ill-fated June 2023 trip to view the Titanic shipwreck on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

For part of the winter before the fatal accident, the investigators said, the Titan was stored in bitterly cold temperatures outside a facility in Newfoundland, with no protection from the elements.

Then, less than four weeks before the fatal mission, the craft was tested and then found “partially sunk” two days later, following a night of high seas and fog.

And a few days before it imploded, five people in the Titan were slammed against its wall as it was resurfacing from a mission.

The vessel’s troubled development history was detailed when the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation convened in South Carolina on Monday for the board’s first public hearing on the disaster, an attempt to begin answering the question of what went wrong on the vessel’s mission to visit the Titanic shipwreck.

The first witness was Tony Nissen, a former engineering director at OceanGate, the underwater exploration company that operated the submersible. He was visibly shaken after seeing the Coast Guard’s initial presentation on the long series of problems that plagued the Titan in the months and years before the voyage, and called the problems “disturbing.”

Mr. Nissen said he was fired in 2019 after he refused to approve an expedition to the Titanic wreckage that year because he deemed the Titan’s hull to be unsafe. OceanGate, he said, lied about the problems, and instead blamed the cancellation of that mission on problems with a support ship.

“It wasn’t true,” he said. “We didn’t have a hull.”

He described an earlier instance, in April of 2018, when the Titan was apparently struck by lightning while in the Bahamas for testing. He told the chief executive of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, who later died in the implosion, that there was a good chance that the strike had compromised the Titan’s hull. Mr. Nissen said Mr. Rush refused to believe him, insisting, “It’ll be OK.”

When Mr. Nissen was asked at the hearing why the company did not make any effort to comply with certification or regulatory standards for the vessel, he said the company’s founder did not show any interest.

“I wouldn’t say there was no effort,” he said. “There was no desire by Stockton to go do it.”

A second witness, Bonnie Carl, a former finance director at the company, said she left in February 2018 over safety concerns. Those concerns included questions that she heard expressed about the design, and seeing people she described as young engineers in their late teens or early 20s who were “wrenching on the sub” with no supervision.

“It became abundantly clear to me that OceanGate was not the place I wanted to work, if that was their attitude toward safety,” she said.

The hearing’s “basic factual information” about the disaster, detailed in a lengthy report at the outset on Monday, did not make clear whether the submersible’s crew members knew they were in mortal danger. The report states that “throughout the descent,” the crew sent “no transmissions which indicated trouble or any emergency.”

The report goes on to recount the terse communications between the submersible and its mother ship as the vessel neared the bottom. The Titan reported that it had “dropped two wts,” a reference to the weights that help the craft descend. That communication was cited by some observers in the immediate aftermath of the Titan disaster as a sign that the people on board may have known of their peril and were trying to make an emergency ascent.

But Tym Catterson, a contractor for OceanGate who helped launch the submersible on the day of its implosion, testified on Monday that he was sure Mr. Rush had dropped the two weights — totaling just 70 pounds — to ease the vessel’s landing and better control it, not to return to the surface.

“It’s not enough weight to come back up,” Mr. Catterson said of the two dropped weights. “He’s just shedding weight to slow down.”

The crew was not heard from again. At that point, the Titan was more than two miles below the surface of the Atlantic. About 30 minutes earlier, they had sent a message saying, “all good here.”

Exactly what led to the implosion has been the subject of an inquiry by the Coast Guard for more than a year. But much of that work has taken place out of view, with few new disclosures about what went wrong. Monday’s public proceeding began with an overview of the investigation and an animation of the submersible that illustrated what investigators had learned so far.

In all, two dozen witnesses are expected to testify before the board over the next two weeks. Among them are former employees of OceanGate and safety and marine experts who have insight into what caused the fatal event. The board is also likely to discuss evidence it has already gathered, including details about the Titan’s design and the company’s safety guidelines.

The witness list for the hearing does not include some key experts and officials associated with the Titan and OceanGate.

Alfred S. McLaren , a retired Navy submariner, submersible pilot and president emeritus of the Explorers Club, said the failure to include more recent OceanGate officials in the witness list could raise questions about the credibility of the report’s eventual conclusions.

“Where are the other experts?” he asked in an interview. He noted, however, that the Coast Guard hearing board has the ability to continue its investigations in private and, if it chooses, to schedule more public hearings, which past inquiries have done.

“It’s not complete,” Dr. McLaren said of the current roster of two dozen witnesses. “They have to keep digging.”

The biggest question for investigators is what caused the Titan to implode, an answer that is crucial to preventing any future accidents. They will specifically try to determine if there were flaws in the design of the submersible or the materials it was built with.

Years before the implosion, Mr. Rush was warned by submersible and ocean experts that his methods were still experimental and could have devastating results.

Since the accident, experts have noted several design decisions that may have saved the company money but meant that the submersible would differ from others that had proved safe. Among those decisions were the pill-like shape of the Titan’s hull — a sphere has been the industry standard — and the use of carbon fiber rather than titanium for the hull.

At a news conference on Sunday, Jason Neubauer, a retired Coast Guard captain who is the chairman of the board investigating the Titan, said his team had been working for 15 months to understand the disaster. He said that the hearing this week and next in North Charleston, S.C., would be crucial.

“These proceedings are not just a formality,” he said. “They are a critical step in our missions to understand the contributing factors that led to the incident, and, even more important, the actions needed to prevent a similar occurrence.”

Captain Neubauer said the investigation was one of the most complex he had ever participated in, partly because the implosion took place far out at sea, making it more difficult to gather the physical remnants of the destroyed craft.

Responding to a reporter’s question, he said that any potential evidence of criminal negligence would be passed on to the U.S. Justice Department.

The Titan submersible disappeared on June 18, 2023, when it lost communication with its support ship after dropping into the water about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. On board were Mr. Rush; Shahzada Dawood , a British Pakistani businessman; Mr. Dawood’s 19-year-old son, Suleman; Hamish Harding , a British aviation tycoon and explorer; and Paul-Henri Nargeolet , a French-American maritime expert and leading authority on the Titanic who had visited the wreckage dozens of times before.

Mr. Nargeolet’s family sued OceanGate last month, saying that the company’s chief executive had misled Mr. Nargeolet about the craft’s safety. OceanGate suspended commercial and exploratory operations in the wake of the accident.

Four days after the submersible vanished, wreckage from the craft was found about a third of a mile from the bow of the Titanic. Months later, divers found human remains among debris.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York. More about Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

William J. Broad has reported on science at The Times since 1983. He is based in New York. More about William J. Broad

Lysanderhöhe (Am Trakt Mennonite Settlement, Samara Oblast, Russia)

Lysanderhöhe was a village of the Am Trakt Mennonite settlement in the province of Samara , Russia , founded in 1864, consisting in 1897 of 22 farms, with a population of 119. A part of the population joined the trek to Turkestan in 1891, while others immigrated to America. In 1914 the population was 146. Franz Bartsch , the author of Unser Auszug nach Mittelasien, was the teacher of the village school. After the Revolution of 1917 the cultural and economic level of the village began to decline. Some of the inhabitants went to Canada and others were exiled. Little is known about the fate of those who remained and the later status of the village.

Bibliography

Dyck, Johannes J. based on a text by W.E. Surukin. Am Trakt: A Mennonite Settlement in the Central Volga Region . Translated by Hermina Joldersma and Peter J.Dyck. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1995.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon , 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 709.

Surukin, W. E. und Johannes J. Dyck. Am Trakt, Eine Mennonitische Kolonie im Mittleren Wolgagebiet .North Kildonan, Man., 1948.

Cite This Article

Krahn, Cornelius. "Lysanderhöhe (Am Trakt Mennonite Settlement, Samara Oblast, Russia)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online . 1957. Web. 17 Sep 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lysanderh%C3%B6he_(Am_Trakt_Mennonite_Settlement,_Samara_Oblast,_Russia)&oldid=144294 .

Krahn, Cornelius. (1957). Lysanderhöhe (Am Trakt Mennonite Settlement, Samara Oblast, Russia). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online . Retrieved 17 September 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lysanderh%C3%B6he_(Am_Trakt_Mennonite_Settlement,_Samara_Oblast,_Russia)&oldid=144294 .

©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

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