Le Phocea, a yacht that has belonged to many fortunes, including French businessman Bernard Tapie, sank off Malaysia days after catching fire, authorities said on Sunday. The Malaysian Coast Guard said the Phocea, a sailboat of nearly 75 meters, sank Friday morning near the tourist island of Langkawi the day after a fire that devastated this four-masted ship.
“We believe that she sank on Friday, around 5 or 6 a.m.,” Mohamad Zawawi Abdullah, a senior coastguard official, told Agence France-Presse, adding that the agent in charge of the yacht in had been informed.
Seven crew members rescued by the emergency services
“We were able to bring the fire under control, but the fire caused damage to the hull which possibly caused the yacht to sink,” he added. He said that an investigation had been opened to find out the causes of the fire. Seven members of the crew were rescued by the emergency services.
Built-in Toulon for the navigator Alain Colas in 1976, the yacht is best known for having belonged to Bernard Tapie in the 1980s and 1990s. After the entrepreneur’s bankruptcy, she was bought in 1997 by the Lebanese Mouna Ayoub for 36.5 million francs (7.5 million euros at the current price), according to media.
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