- The superyacht was owned by Getir entrepreneur Serkan Borancili
- Footage shows the yacht sinking as it is doused with fire extinguisher
This is the dramatic moment a £14million superyacht caught fire and sank off the coast of Sardinia.
Sixteen passengers and crew miraculously escaped from the Atina before the ship was completely engulfed in flames on Saturday evening while anchored in the Gulf of Olbia.
The tourists, who came from Turkey, were picked up by firefighters and coast guards. No injuries were reported.
It is believed that among the passengers was Serkan Borancili, the owner of the 47-metre-long vessel.
The Turkish entrepreneur co-founded struggling grocery delivery app Getir in 2015, which recently found itself forced to withdraw from both the European and US markets after rapid expansion.
This is the dramatic moment a £14m superyacht owned by the founder of struggling grocery app Getir caught fire and sank off the coast of Sardinia
Sixteen passengers and crew escaped from the Atina before the ship was completely engulfed in flames on Saturday evening while moored in the Gulf of Olbia
The tourists, who came from Turkey, were picked up by firefighters and coast guards and no injuries were reported
Footage released by the Olbia coastguard shows the multi-million pound yacht sinking as a fire extinguisher is doused in it.
It landed on the seabed at a depth of about 7 meters. According to local media, clean-up operations are currently underway.
The yacht had about 50,000 liters of fuel on board, but according to Olbia port authorities no leaks were found.
The fire is believed to have started in the superyacht’s engine compartment, but the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
The Atina sold for over £14 million in 2021 and won an award at the 2009 World Superyacht Awards.
When it was purchased three years ago, it underwent eight months of renovation, during which the upper deck was completely redesigned.
The yacht was complete with five cabins, lounge areas and an entertainment system installed throughout.
According to BOAT International, the Atina cost €220,000 per week and was deployed in Corsica and the French Riviera.
Pictured: Serkan Borancili, co-founder of troubled supermarket app Getir
Footage from the Olbia coastguard shows the yacht sinking as it is doused with a fire extinguisher
Borancili founded Getir in 2015 together with Nazim Salur and the business thrived during the lockdown.
The company was once valued at £9.5 billion and has links to two Russian oligarchs, Vladimir Potanin and Arkady Volozh.
Earlier this year, Getir announced it was pulling out of the UK, with an estimated 1,500 job losses.
The company is also leaving Europe and the US to focus solely on its home market of Turkey, ending its rapid expansion in those regions since the pandemic.
The announcement followed speculation that Getir’s UK and European operations were in financial trouble after the company decided to pull out of Italy and Spain last year.
The company says it now generates only 7 percent of its revenue outside Turkey.
