Billionaire’s yacht drops anchor into protected reef
A YACHT owned by a billionaire American hedge fund manager is being investigated by authorities in Belize, after a video emerged showing the boat damaging a protected coral reef.
The 200ft yacht, Samadhi, was seen on Sunday dropping its anchor at the Lighthouse Reef atoll, a diving site famous for a giant marine sinkhole called the Great Blue Hole.
Daniel Loeb, the owner of the yacht, was not on it at the time. He leases it out on charter, with prices starting at $360,000 (£275,000) a week.
The incident came to light after a video was posted online showing the vessel’s anchor wrapped around live corals at the Unesco World Heritage site. “We’re on the dive site called the aquarium and there is this big yacht here,” said someone in the video.
“It is really sad what these guys are doing. They’re anchoring in the dive site of the aquarium. Somebody has to do something about this.”
The department of the environment in Belize confirmed to the Financial Times that it was investigating.
“Samadhi lowered the anchor in a very sensitive area of Belize,” a spokesman said. “Officers are doing an investigation. We know damage was done.”
Wright Maritime Group, the company that manages Mr Loeb’s yacht, said the vessel’s anchor had “inadvertently” dragged through the coral while moored on a patch of sand.
“We will be collaborating with local environmental groups on the remediation and conservation of Lighthouse Reef as well as other reefs in the area, and are committed to make amends for this unfortunate accident,” said Ryan Davies, fleet operations manager.
Mr Loeb said he was aghast at the damage caused, and would work with conservationists to restore the reef.
“As a lifelong surfer and someone who loves the ocean, I was horrified to hear about this incident,” he said.