Superyacht, fishing boat collision leaves one dead

One person is dead and 18 passengers were taken to shore by the US Coast Guard following a Friday evening collision between the 101m superyacht Attessa IV and a 65ft sportfishing boat off the California-Mexico border.

The vessels came together without warning approximately nine miles offshore from Imperial Beach, California. A group of fishermen onboard the 65ft Prowler were returning from Mexican waters when their boat collided with the larger yacht.

One of the anglers, Hung Ngo, told a local television station that there was no warning before the collision took place. The group were relaxing below decks when suddenly they heard a loud crashing noise. Ngo ran topsides to see significant damage to the vessel. “The whole right side of the deck was gone,” said Ngo. “The rail, everything. It looked like, wow, somebody just cut it off.”

In spite of a gaping hole on the starboard side of the boat, the Prowler remained afloat. Passengers were transported to the Attessa IV, which suffered only minor scratches. Two people were subsequently taken to hospital by Coast Guard helicopter, one of whom died.

Weather conditions at the time were described as dark and foggy. The Coast Guard is investigating.