The “If Only” superyacht owned by the famous Italian businesswoman Diana Bracco went down in flames in the anchorage of Nice yesterday.

Fortunately, no passengers were injured during the accident. The fire on board the “If Only” superyacht was probably caused by a circuit breaker in the engine room and rapidly broke out spreading panic among the seven passengers and four crew members of the boat.

The column of smoke rising from the boat was spotted by the control tower of the nearby airport of Nice which, fortunately, promptly raised the alarm by alerting the French Port Authority that, in its turn, promptly responded to the alarm and rescued all the passengers on board. Only a crew member, who tried to put out the fire in the engine room, was admitted to the hospital as a result of inhaling noxious fumes.

Once named Walanka, the yacht, built by the Ditch Feadship shipyard in 1974, is made of steel and aluminium superstructures. 39 metres long, it could host 8 passengers and 9 crew members.

The fire could be spotted from the entire coast of Nice and the column of smoke raising from the yacht risked to affect air traffic. The yacht was indeed tugged offshore in order to prevent it from crashing into the airport dam.

Operations continued until late in the night with the help of a special vessel that placed some absorbing barrages and floating dams to avoid the risk of environmental damage.