31st October 2023 - Written by R.Young
Politician’s $40million Superyacht Runs Aground
Clive Palmer, the Australian billionaire, had an unfortunate day this last month, when his superyacht ran aground just off the coast of Sentosa, Singapore. The $40million yacht is 56 meters in length and was named ‘Australia’ by the former politician.
It is believed that there may have been a problem with the motor on the afternoon of 16th October, causing the vessel to unfortunately, drift inside a navigational buoy. The yacht was stranded in shallow water until high tide, when they were able to free and refloat her.
It is not clear whether 69-year-old Clive Palmer was on board the yacht when the incident occurred, or if there was any damage caused. Australia is now currently anchored at Keppel Bay, Singapore.
The yacht, 'Australia', was built in 2012 by the illustrious shipyard Benetti and reflects their reputation of sophistication and grandeur, with design work by Stefano Natucci.
The 11-year-old vessel was originally owned by the perennial richest person in New Zealand; Graeme Hart (Net worth $8.2 billion), who commissioned the yacht and named her Ulysses. Later, she changed hands and was renamed BASH by her then owner, Lebanese businessman; Bassim Haidar (Net worth $400 million), before finally changing ownership to the Australian tycoon; Clive Palmer (Net worth $1.9 billion), who renamed her again.
The yacht has a top speed of 16 knots, driven by her twin diesel Caterpillar engines. She can effortlessly endure a range of 3,000 nautical miles when cruising at 12 knots. She can accommodate 12 overnight guests and has a dedicated crew of 12 for any voyage.
After spamming voters with texts that were “annoying”, Clive Palmer, rose to the top of the list of most hated politicians in Oz. The mining mogul was even labelled as an “enemy of the state” by Mark McGowan. So, it is safe to say that many Australians would have found his misfortune on Monday 16th October quite amusing.
