My Boat Has Been Stolen!!!!!!!!!

[Digsy]

I'll keep an eye out for it on the Mersey...

[Trev-the-Rev]

That is is terrible news. It would appear that nothing is safe these days!

[Zazur]

Thanks guys for all your kind words.

 

No this is our orginal one not the one I went to look at that boat did not meet all the boss's requirements.

 

I was called earlier by the Toulon Marine Police and went to the Police station to see them where they showed me CCTV footage of her leaving the port at 3.24am.

[Sarnie]

£2 million? Its a nice boat but £2m doesn't buy you much in boat world, does it?????

[Pete350z]

£2 million? Its a nice boat but £2m doesn't buy you much in boat world, does it?????

 

 

It could be that expensive because the owner could have specced it massively during the build process.

 

It's the fit out and engines that make a boat seriously expensive, not really the size. And judging by the top speed then that boat must have 2 huge horsepower engines which probably cost half of the purchase price.

 

Also the boat could be kitted out in marble and gold in the interior, or something equally expensive, hence big cost, those kind of boats can be made cheaper but this one more then likely has a 2 mill cost due to engine and interior finish.

[M13KYF]

sorry to hear this, sounds terrible

[Zazur]

£2 million? Its a nice boat but £2m doesn't buy you much in boat world, does it?????

 

 

It could be that expensive because the owner could have specced it massively during the build process.

 

It's the fit out and engines that make a boat seriously expensive, not really the size. And judging by the top speed then that boat must have 2 huge horsepower engines which probably cost half of the purchase price.

 

Also the boat could be kitted out in marble and gold in the interior, or something equally expensive, hence big cost, those kind of boats can be made cheaper but this one more then likely has a 2 mill cost due to engine and interior finish.

 

Yep this is right.

 

To give you an example I replaced the centre engine propeller in July this year due to wear (she has 3 engines with 4,000 HP) it has to be specially made in Switzerland and took 9 weeks and it cost £38,000.

[rich5259]

£38,000 and you need another 2 at some point

 

Makes 285/30 x20 PS2's look cheap

[Zazur]

Her at peace on her berth

 

[Zazur]

THIS IS NOT GOOD

 

 

Today it has been confirmed that my boat has been found. The following is taken from e-mail’s I have been sent with names removed for obvious reasons.

 

“Following our phone call this morning I'd like to confirm to you the information as the ******* has been found in Turkey in Marina Alacati in Cesm close to Izmir For the moment, all informations I have are in the mail herunder. It has been found bu the Insurer (Investigation company sent by ****** who made a quite good job) . ***** suggest you Capitain travel to Turkey with documents listed in the mail herunder. Once in Turikey, Capt ***** from ***** company could help your captain (I'm waiting the phone number of *****, I'll forward to you asap). You also need to prepare a Power of Attorney with all actions your capitain will do once he's in Turkey in order to take back the boat. Mr ***** can also contact *****from ***** in order to get more help (phone number in the mail heunrder). As ****** documents have been canceled by your Capitain, please alos prepare a copy of new documents which are going to be issued. Please also confirm to me the place the capitain ios going to go once he will leave turkey. I'm in a meeting at ****** but remain at your disposal if you need any furthermore help. I also call you this afternoon in order to be sure that everything is clear, I think we also can help in Monaco with our colleaguesâ€

 

 

“Search-Request was successful and the yacht was found! The Marina Alicati in Turkey had received the search-request and then took notice of a suspicious looking yacht. When they wanted to check the yacht more closely, the crew took off with the yacht and left the Marina. The marina staff immediately informed the coast guard, they followed the yacht and brought her back into the marina. Our close cooperation partner in Turkey was informed by ****** Turkey, they all assisted to enable the authorities to identify the yacht as the stolen one by matching the engine numbers. The thieves were arrested. The yacht ******* was taken ashore and is arrested and safe now. Please, call us as soon as possible to discuss further proceedings and best options for soonest release of the yacht.â€

 

 

I have now received a phone call saying the reason the boat was in the marina was because the boat has engine problems which I had suspected as they had sent a photo of her out of the water and in the marina yard. The photo was of the starboard side of the boat(right side) and lots of excessive smoke and soot was evident on the side of the hull, above the engine room air intakes and the bathing platform. It is quite obvious the engine problem is serious as they have had to stop and have lost the boat and must have lost around €50,000-€100,000 Euros in fuel costs that they would have laid out as I have been told the boat has been running a maximum speed since it left the Monaco area.

 

I am booking flights to the UK so I can collect the documents I need (which have been destroyed we are told as they were on board) and as soon as I have all the necessary documents I can than fly to Turkey.

 

I will try and post more info tomorrow as I will have more info before I fly to the UK and then I will go quiet for a few days as I sort this mess out and will post an update when I can.

 

THIS IS MY WORST KNIGHTMARE

[rich5259]

Isn't I good news the boat is intact and only needs fixing? Surely thats better than it being at the bottom of the Med?

[Zazur]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

 

The Turkish Police arrested 5 people 3 Russians and 2 Italians, 1 ran away. They then had to let them go as they said they were the buyers of the boat.

Also they have official paperwork with an official ship registry certificate from Moldova so at the moment they have paperwork saying they own the boat and we have nothing as all the my originals were on board as we have to carry originals and I am told they have been destroyed to keep their story correct. I am told when the boat left it’s berth they already had all their paperwork so this was very well planned.

I have been given 8 days to claim the boat with all the correct original paperwork or after 8 days it will go to the Turkish legal system and could take up to 5 years to sort out.

I have been told the boat will remain under arrest for now until I can present my documents.

I have been told the following:

The bathing platform is damaged and there are a number of scratches around the hull so they have been driving by touch.

The inside of the boat has been turned upside down as they searched the boat for documents etc but appears not too much damage as far as they can tell amongst all the mess.

The engine room is a real mess and they have been trying their best to fix the engine problems but in the end could not fix it so were forced to enter a marina and thus were caught.

 

The boss is taken this quite well at the moment.

 

The extent of the mechanical problems are not known at this time and I will have to access this situation when I finally arrive in Turkey and are able to claim back the legal ownership of the boat and than allowed onto my boat again.

If the engine or engines are that badly damaged and have to be replaced then the only way this can be done is to grap a chainsaw and start cutting open the deck and top superstructure to be able to get the old out and the new in as when this was built the machinery was put into the hull(the bottom half) first and then the superstructure (top section) is then placed on top and bonded into place.

 

I will have to make arrangements for a large ship with crane to come to outside the marina in Turkey and lift the boat out of the water and put it on the ships deck so it can be piggy backed back to here in France and then unloaded and into a yard here where I can get a full structure and mechanical survey done to access the situation.

 

Flying to the Uk in a couple of hours to collect all the paperwork I will need then onto to Turkey.

 

So who’s jealous of my job now then????

[Sarnie]

Still sounds better than sitting behind a desk in Slough

[Lexx]

Still better than sailing around on a fisheries Protection cruiser like. lol

 

Hope you get it all sorted with minumum more hassle

[Gaz Walker]

Wow, what a nightmare!

 

Good luck getting it all sorted.

[Chris`I]

Still sounds better than sitting behind a desk in Slough

Dont diss Slough til you've tried it

 

I think I would prefer doing this job than sitting behind my desk in Slough where it is currently shitty and dark! I can only console myself in that I am now inderpendant and getting more of my day rate than when through my last company

 

Good luck with the recovery, hope the damage is more superficial than structural.

[bronzee]

Certainly don't envy you trying to sort this mess out now. Fingers crossed it isn't too much of a mission considering.

[Shuck]

I maybe too nieve here, but assuming that you get everything done in time before the Turkish 'legal' system swoop into action, wouldn't it just be a job for the insurers to sort out?

 

It does sound like a nightmare though. I can't believe that the thieves have been released!

[martinmac]

Best of luck with it bud, sounds like a lot of boring legal stuff to do.

 

With the engine it sounds like they have either wiped the ring pack on the pistons which can be confirmed with a compression test, damaged the turbocharger reducing air flow required for correct combustion mix, but this would have a high pitch scream and the turbo oil would be black. Or if you are lucky simply wiped the injectors causing inconsistent atomization of the fuel. Or if you are really unlucky all three!!

 

I will have my fingers crossed.

[rich5259]

I can't believe that the thieves have been released!

 

hmmm....I wonder about Turkish police, greasy lawyers for rich boat theives and big fat brown envelopes

 

Isn't Piracy a Capital crime?

[martinmac]

In the current climate it should be taken very very seriously. These boats can generate a fortune.

[Maccaman]

What's the chance of these guy's being around when its proved they don't own the boat? Hope damage is not as bad as feared and you get everything sorted successfully.

[Zazur]

Hi guys, thanks for all your previous kind words. Well I flew back into France last night from Turkey and after 2 weeks in the Turkish legal system, the good news is we own our own yacht again.

 

Here is an up date for anyone who is interested.

 

The guys who stole the boat are very professional and had a lot of paperwork including new registry,company formation paperwork, power of attorney papers, credit card for the boat etc, 32 documents in total.

 

The boat has some damage on it and some mechanical problems.

 

The front of the boat has been hit into something and the front search light as been smashed off, front stainless steel hand rail as been bent and scuffed and needs replacing, the anchor has been bent,

The blue paint job has quite a bit of damage on it and all the blue will need to be repainted.

The bathing platform has quite a bit of damage and looks like it has been under a wall and needs repainting and the teak is damaged and needs repairing, also there is a lot of gel coat repairs needed around the boat as they went looking for identification numbers etc.

The port and starboard engines have done 195 hours and the centre engine has only done 34 hours since the time it was stolen, so they could not start the centre engine and have been running the boat on just 2 engines which is not good.

The starboard engine has a blown turbo, oil leak and the exhaust flexible metal coupling has been broken and filled the whole engine room up with nasty black soot which has stained everything including the inside of the boat also.

The centre engine appears to be ok but will know more when we are able to do a sea trail.

The port engine has a number of broken oil lines and the engine/gearbox coupling has sheared so the whole engine has to be raised and moved forward for the repair.

All of the injectors have to be replaced due to fouling and damage etc.

All engines need a complete service and inspection.

Engine room needs a complete clean to remove all the oil and soot.

The generator and all of the 12 volt electrical system no longer works and faults unknown at this time.

All the cushions in the cockpit need to be replaced due to black soot damage.

All of the lower saloon upholstery and cushions need to be cleaned due to soot damage.

The tender is completely black and will have to be replaced due to soot damage.

The front screens now leak and there is water damage to the interior wood lacquer in the lower saloon as a result of the leak.

the front windowscreens have to be removed and resealed again.

Numerous cables which are indicators for the propeller drive indicators have been broken/damaged or ripped off due to a rope being wrapped around the 3 propellers.

The Bose sound system in the lower saloon no longer works.

All the boats paperwork was destroyed due them having their own paperwork.

Name and port was sanded off and they put a new name on the boat.

 

Estimated repair bill between £400,00-£500,000.

 

I will be back off to Turkey about Tuesday/Wednesday this week to get the repairs under way and then see about getting the boat piggy backed to France.

 

Guess I am going to be a little bit busy for a few months.

[Trev-the-Rev]

It's great to hear that you've recovered it but with the damage that's been done you sometimes wonder if it would have been better to have never seen it again. Hope you get everything back to the way it was.

[Maccaman]

Good news that the legals have come out right. Bit of a pig about all the damage caused, I wonder how they would have got on selling it in such a condition? Will the cost of the repairs be covered by insurance?