A MULTI-MILLION-POUND superyacht belonging to a Saudi prince smashed into the side of a dock in Tunisia, causing severe damage.
The luxury Benetti yacht worth £70 million has been pictured by shocked onlookers wedged onto the dock of the Marina of Bizerte in Tunisia.
GettyThe Kingdom 5-KR yacht owned by billionaire investor Saudi Prince Alwaleed smashed into a quayside in a marina in Tunisia[/caption]
X/@TounesKhadraThe Superyacht has been pictured embedded into the side of the dock in Bizerte following the crash on Friday morning[/caption]
X/@TounesKhadraAuthorities are investigating the cause of the accident and the vessel has remained stationary since the incident[/caption]
On Friday, the bow of the 1,768 GT superyacht called the Kingdom 5-KR crashed into the stone dock causing the vessel to become wedged on the quayside.
The vessel scraped down the side of the dock after it had dropped its anchor, causing severe damage to the keel and hull as well as to the quay itself.
Those on the dock in the marina filmed the bow of the vessel after the incident showing the mangled metal and debris caused by the crash.
The impact of the luxury superyacht colliding with the stone dock displaced large paving slabs and left the 282-foot boat embedded on the quayside.
The superyacht “failed to stop in time and clipped the breakwater on the starboard quarter and failed to stop,” a witness told The Yacht Report.
The anchor was “dropped before [the yacht] hit the wharf [and] the nose scraped down the port quarter.”
An investigation is currently underway to determine what caused the incident.
The vessel is owned by Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal after previously being owned by the Sultan of Brunei and Donald Trump who renamed the vessel Trump Princess in 1988.
Italian shipbuilder Benetti constructed the yacht in 1980 for $100 million at the request of Saudi billionaire and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi who named it Nabila.
It would then feature in the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again starring Sean Connery.
The vessel was the HQ of the Bond villain Maximillian Largo and was featured in advertising for the film.
Taking the title of the world’s largest superyacht, the vessel can accommodate 22 guests with its 11 staterooms plus 31 crew members.
There is also a hospital onboard with an operating room as well as six gigantic fridges that can hold up to three months’ supply of food for 100 people.
Guests can enjoy its five decks, helipad, three-person hair salon, a 2.4-meter circular pool, sauna, and private cinema.
Even the bathrooms ooze opulence with golden sinks and marble surfaces.
The boat with a maximum speed of 20 knots also has its own disco as well as a well-stocked library.
Despite all it has to offer, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s vessel has been stationary since 12pm on Friday due to the crash.
However, the prince who is worth $18.7 billion is not short of finding a replacement.
He has a fleet of private planes including a Boeing 474 and an Airbus 321.
The Saudi prince has also commissioned a new superyacht dubbed the New Kindom 5KR for the sum of $500 million.
He also owns three palaces with his main home spanning 250,000 square feet in central Riyadh with over 300 bedrooms.
The third palace which is still under construction is set to have a 17-acre lake and a private zoo.
X/@TounesKhadraWitnesses reported that the vessel had dropped its anchor before the front of the ship smashed into the dock[/caption]
ReutersSaudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Tala is the latest owner of the superyacht which previously belonged to Donald Trump, the Sultan of Brunei, and Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi,[/caption]
GettyThe vessel featured in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again which starred Sean Connery[/caption]