A 12-metre yacht ran aground on Magaluf beach on Sunday afternoon, drifting into the swimming area and coming to rest just a few metres from the shore, in front of hundreds of surprised holidaymakers.
According to the crew who later freed it, the yacht’s anchor chain had snapped, leaving the boat adrift. The skipper was unable to steer it away from the beach because the engines would not start, and the vessel was carried onto the sand.
A beach-day spectacle
With the beach at its busiest, the stranding quickly drew a crowd. Sunbathers and swimmers gathered at the water’s edge to watch, and videos of the yacht stuck in the shallows were soon circulating on social media.
Lifeguards cleared swimmers from the water around the boat, and police officers kept onlookers at a safe distance while the situation was dealt with.
How it was refloated
Several small boats tried to tow the yacht back into deeper water, but the first attempts failed and it remained stuck on the sandbank.
The yacht was eventually freed by the charter boat Neptün, which operates out of Puerto Portals and is run by marine technicians Manni and El-Turco. Working with a single-engine boat, the team used carefully planned manoeuvres and towing lines to pull the yacht clear after the earlier efforts had not worked.
Once it was afloat, the team also managed to restart the yacht’s engines. Rather than being towed to Puerto Portals, as was initially reported, the yacht was able to travel under its own power to Palma, with the Neptün escorting it as a precaution.
No injuries
Nobody was hurt and the yacht did not suffer major damage. Beach activity returned to normal once the vessel had been taken away.
Groundings of this kind are uncommon on Calvià’s busy beaches, but anchor and engine failures close to shore are one of the main reasons the coastguard and lifeguards ask boats to keep outside the buoyed swimming areas in summer.
This article was updated after Balearic Times reviewed video footage supplied by the team who carried out the recovery, confirming their role and the yacht’s final destination.
