Free Republic

Preaching climate justice while arriving in a half-a-billion-dollar superyacht? That’s the kind of cinematic irony Lauren Sánchez served at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, pulling off a Leonardo DiCaprio moment of her own. The Amazon founder’s fiancée made her Cannes debut while being honored at the prestigious Global Gift Foundation charity gala for her environmental efforts through the Bezos Earth Fund and her work in social justice with This Is About Humanity, an organization that reunites families separated at the US-Mexico border. Interestingly, the soon-to-be Mrs. Bezos was joined by tech tycoon Jeff Bezos and their permanent third wheel, the...

A diver has died during preliminary operations to recover British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's superyacht from the waters off the coast of northern Sicily, local police said. The accident happened on Friday while the diver was underwater in Porticello, police said, adding the precise cause of death was still unknown. According to local Italian media, the diver was a 39-year-old Dutch national who worked for a specialist salvage company. The salvage operation is being overseen by British marine consultancy TMC Marine and led by Dutch-based companies Hebo, a maritime services company from Rotterdam, and SMIT Salvage, with support from Italian...

Three crew members of the Bayesian superyacht are officially under investigation for crimes including negligence, recklessness and failing to save the ship from an oncoming storm, according to Italian prosecutors. Captain James Cutfield, chief engineer Timothy Parker Eaton and deckhand Matthew Griffiths are in line to face criminal charges, according to the public prosecutor of Termini Imerese in Sicily, close to where the yacht sank amid a severe storm. The potential charges were set out as rescue workers strive to raise the vessel, currently 50 meters (164 feet) below the surface, off the coast of Porticello. Allegedly, “through negligence consisting...

Known for her distaste for over-the-top, tech-heavy spaces (including their Washington home, the $130 million Xanadu 2.0), Melinda once shared in a CNN interview, “We certainly spend money on ourselves. You see it in the house that we built. We won’t have that house forever, though.” ... However, with the couple’s split before the yacht was finished, Gates decided to part ways with the $645 million behemoth, a reminder of their 27-year marriage. Now that Breakthrough has completed its sea trials, the vessel is seeking a new owner, perhaps another billionaire, before the end of this year.

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) could pursue the widow of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch for up to £3billion after his death in the Bayesian superyacht disaster. The US firm won a multi-billion-pound UK High Court claim against Dr Lynch in 2022, accusing him of fraud over its £8billion purchase of his company Autonomy in 2011. His death on August 19, when his £30million vessel sank during a freak storm off the coast of Sicily, means his family could be liable for any payout decided by the judge. And HPE is now expected to continue its case against his widow Angela Bacares...

British tech magnate Mike Lynch and several other people were among those missing after their luxury superyacht sank during a freak storm off Sicily early Monday, Italy’s civil protection and authorities said. Lynch’s wife and 14 other people survived. Lynch, who was acquitted in June in a big U.S. fraud trial, was among the six people who remain unaccounted for after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello, when...a waterspout struck the area overnight, said Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency. One body has been recovered, and police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was...

A Ukrainian superyacht stewardess who was caught on a doorbell camera beating up her three-year-old son has avoided jail time. Yulia Storozhuk, 29, became emotional as she took a plea deal negotiated with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office on Thursday. The mom was caught on a neighbor's Ring doorbell camera hurling her defenseless child down a hallway before kicking him multiple times. 'I am very sorry, I'm a single mom and it was only one incident where I let my emotions get the better of me,' Storozhuk previously told the court through an interpreter, NBC reports. Her pleas appeared to...

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Meta, has recently made waves with his latest acquisition—a $300 million superyacht named Launchpad. Zuckerberg’s luxurious vessel, which is longer than a football field, has drawn criticism based on his climate activism. The Hindustan Times reports that with an estimated net worth of $180 billion, Mark Zuckerberg has joined the ranks of tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page in buying a luxurious superyacht. The 118-meter vessel, designed by Swedish-based Espen Øin International, boasts a sleek, multilayered exterior with a robust steel hull and an aluminum...

Jeff Bezos will not be able to sail a new, more than 400-foot-long superyacht through the waters of the Dutch city of Rotterdam anytime soon.The port city faced an uproar months ago as it considered dismantling a section of a 95-year-old bridge to allow the Amazon founder’s yacht to pass. But now the boat’s builder, the Dutch company Oceanco, has decided to refrain from applying for a permit, according to a Rotterdam City Council member.It was unclear how Mr. Bezos’ yacht would leave the area or whether Oceanco would finish the boat. The company did not respond to requests for...

(Video at the link) The news here is that the Russian superyacht "Amadea" had fled to Fiji to avoid sanctions and Fiji has consented to the seizure and forfeiture of the ship to United States authorities. Amadea becomes the first Russian superyacht to fly a US flag. About the superyacht Amadea: Amadea is a motor yacht with a length of 106.1m. The yacht's builder is Lürssen from Germany who delivered superyacht Amadea in 2017. The superyacht has a beam of 18.0m, a draft of 4.1m and a volume of 4,402 GT. The Amadea features exterior design by Espen Øino International,...

Working in exile, Alexey Navalny’s team of anti-corruption activists have released a new investigation linking a $700-million superyacht to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The luxury vessel, officially registered to an offshore company in the Marshall Islands, is allegedly crewed by members of Russia’s Secret Service (the FSO). The Scheherazade is one of only 14 yachts in the world that are at least 140 meters (459 feet) long — and according to The New York Times, it’s the only superyacht of its kind whose owner isn’t publicly unknown. On paper, the ship belongs to an offshore company from the Marshall Islands......

From its public introduction last September straight through to now, the WHY 58x38 project from Wally has been garnering plenty of attention. The unusual wedge shape and elbowroom-inducing beam are far different than anything else on the water or on the drawing boards. But yesterday, Hermès surprised many by announcing that it’s leaving the joint venture.

The captain of Linda Lou, a 60m Lurssen built superyacht enroute to Dubai experienced troubles with a possible pirate attack.

In days of yore, there were only yachts. Until there came superyachts. Twice as large as their predecessors, with midocean necessities such as spiral staircases, split-level saloons and flybridge hot tubs, these floating mansions did more than eclipse conventional yachts -- they made them appear impish, toylike. And then, along came megayachts. These Poseidons, in good truth, possessed not only grandeur (nobody dared describe a yacht less than 150 feet as a "mega"), but touches of lavishness, such as crystal elevators and goatskin walls. They even came with gyroscopically controlled swimming pools -- to keep the water smooth in the...