19 Oct 2011

38.2m Sunchaser badly damaged by fire

By TB

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The venerable 38.13m M/Y Sunchaser (ex Fifty One), launched in 1991 by Christensen Shipyards, was recently massively damaged by fire during a refit in Langkawi. The vessel had been in the Boustead Yachts Langkawi (BYL) in Bukit Malut, shipyard facility for 18 months for a protracted refit.

Nick Coombes of Asia Pacific Yacht Services in Langkawi told SuperyachtNews.com “the fire took place on 10/10/11 in the evening somewhere around 8pm in one of the paint sheds”. The vessel was in the yard's paint shed - the scope of the refit according to Coombes encompassed interior refit and a paint job. Coombes reported that there was some minor damage to the paint on an adjacent vessel but otherwise there was no damage to other vessels. He continued, saying that there was no one aboard the yacht at the time and there were no injuries, adding that there was no damage to the other parts of the yard facilities.

The fire was discovered by shipyard security personnel who called the fire services. According to Malaysian news source Berita Harain Online 53 firefighters attended the blaze and were required to stay there for some 10 hours. That was eight hours beyond the point at which they brought the fire under control, to ensure that re-ignition did not take place. The news source continued to report that Superintendent of Fire and Rescue Department Langkawi Zone, Ibrahim Mohd Yunus, said “the department received an emergency call over the incident at 8:06 pm and despatched four fire engines and two 4WD vehicles to the scene”.

It is believed that the fire started in the engine room area and rapidly spread throughout the interior, apparently sparing only the crew mess and areas forward of that spaces bulk head. Surveyors and insurance and owner’s representatives have been on-site. It is not known at this stage if the vessel is repairable or a total loss.  Coombes commented “the damage was confined to the interior and that there was no apparent damage outside of the yacht”. However the yachts hull is composite so the degree of damage to the structural elements caused by the interior heat will have a profound effect on whether the vessel can be rebuilt or not. Coombes speculated that the yacht is likely to be removed from the shipyard within “a month or so”.

As of opening of business on 19 October the shipyard could not be reached for comment. If we are at able to speak to someone at the yard will update this report with their comments in due course.

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