Safety Articles
High-profile fires have been making ominous waves in the yachting industry. These flame-induced shocks are distressingly commonplace, occurring aboard vessels or in shipyards with worrying regularity. Like the echo of Billy Joel’s hit song, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’, these incidents have become a calling card for an industry desperate for immediate safety reforms.
Over the past five years, the world of yachting has been rocked by a series of significant instances of combustion, sparking off severe damages, operational disruptions, and in some cases, complete vessel loss. For instance, the July 2024 inferno at a northern European shipyard mirrors the tragic pattern of the Project Sassi blaze four years earlier. There’s an eerie similarity in these chronicles of fire, with emergency responders battling ceaselessly to reign in the uncontrolled flames.
Docked at Harbour Island in the Bahamas, the 43.3-metre Far From It Richmond superyacht was unexpectedly thrust in the spotlight when its crew member was tragically murdered in July. The accused engineer found at the crime scene has recently pleaded not guilty in front of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas, which instantly rippled through the yachting industry and incited a fervent debate about the safety of those working on these luxurious vessels.
Brigido Munoz, the 39-year-old accused engineer was discovered alongside the body of 20-year-old South African stewardess, Paige Bell, igniting an industry-wide discourse on the need to prioritize the wellbeing of crew members. In the aftermath of the incident, the industry rallied together to support Paige Bell’s family, raising a collective voice for the safekeeping of the males and females who dedicate their lives to the smooth operation of mega-vessels.