The 71 foot Princess Lauren Yacht is a Complete Loss After Fire in the United States (Florida) – Fire crews put out a devastating fire that destroyed a multimillion-dollar yacht Princess Lauren at the Sunset Harbour Yacht Club in Daytona Beach, officials said Saturday. The Motor Yacht Princess Lauren listed to the left and was a complete loss, said Battalion Chief Dru Driscoll.
Yacht Princess Lauren on Fire at Daytona Beach
Fire crew eventually reached the yacht with water hoses and foam lines. But the firefighters who did reach the boat were forced to leave after it began to list to the side, Driscoll said.
The Daytona Beach Fire Department received a call about 7:20 a.m. about a smoke coming from a boat at the yacht club. But when firefighters arrived, they had a tough time reaching the 1998 vessel.
The Princess Lauren superyacht was manufactured by DeFever Cruisers. It has 215 horsepower 10.5 litre Caterpillar engines.
Driscoll said the owner of the yacht did not wish to comment about the loss, saying “he did not care to comment as the realism of the situation was setting in.”
“The owner painstakingly was in the two year process of upgrading every fine detail of the yacht,” Driscoll said in an email. “As you can imagine, he is upset at the loss.”
“With the resources available and the special conditions that existed, I am very proud of our fire-fighters tiresome efforts in controlling this fire” Driscoll said.
Written by The Orlando Sentinel
Yacht Princess Lauren Burned and Sank
A Jacksonville Pollution Control worker at the site said “some fuel obviously” leaked but was held to a minimum. Two small buoyed areas behind the yacht remained aft of the vessel and several white absorbent pads floated on the surface. When red, they contain fuel.
“We’ve cleaned up quite a bit,” said Jim Rosenbeck of the contracted Jacksonville firm, unable to provide a figure.
A Coast Guard spokesman at the site, Shawn Jackson, estimated that between 500 to 800 gallons of fuel remained aboard and seemingly secured. Late Monday afternoon, more portholes were discovered that needed to be sealed and the move down river was postponed until 1 p.m. today. Sullivan, who works for Blue Water Diving in South Daytona, said the work was difficult.
“There’s no visibility, not even a foot,” Sullivan said of the water around the yacht. “There’s 16-inches of ash at the bottom. As soon as (the hull) moves, it’s like someone put a black garbage bag over your head.”
