Lagoon Catamarans Director Yann Masselot gives us the corporate view of the “Creature From The Sunk Lagoon” story we published yesterday about the sinking of a 50′ cat near Brisbane, Oz.
Lagoon has built one hundred fifty Lagoon 500 catamarans between 2005 and 2012, when we replaced this popular model with the Lagoon 52. Many of the Lagoon 500s have sailed around the world with their owners, and the boat is widely recognized as a seaworthy, safe and good performance catamaran. We do not know yet what happened to One World and we hope that the investigation will bring more information. The important matter is that the crew is safe, thanks to the efficient intervention of the Australian coastguards.
Regarding your statement about the Thai Lagoon 500 Nipper, we would like to supply you with the truth about this story: Nipper was abandoned by its inexperienced new Thai captain after catching the Dyneema dinghy painter in its propellor, tearing the engine off its bed, and creating a huge leak. This captain never closed the connecting valve between the engine bilge and the main bilge, and he never started the bilge pumps. He got scared, abandoned the vessel on a nearby sand bank, leaving all windows open. At the next tide, the waves flooded the grounded vessel and sank her with no one aboard.
The owner of the vessel sued our dealer in Singapore and lost the case. He then tried to escape Singapore with his money to avoid paying the court fees and expenses he was ordered to by the judge. This owner was upset about his own bad decision to choose a cheap insurance plan with a high deductible (that he asked us to pay) that he is trying to blame Lagoon for what transpired. Of course the court in Singapore did not see it that way. If you read the content of his website, you’ll find all pertinent documents that prove our version.
Thank you for sharing this information with the readers of your great website. Many thanks, and best regards,
-Yann
