Seven crew members have been rescued from PHOCEA, the ninth-largest sailing yacht in the world, after she caught fire off of the coast of an island near Langkawi, Malaysia.
The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency was quickly on the scene to fight the fire on the 75.13m vessel, which began at around 8.18am local time.
The crew members were safely rescued and transferred unhurt to the KM Tenggol Coast Guard Ship. Firefighters were still battling to fight the blaze in the evening.
PHOCEA, formerly know as ENIGMA, was built by DCAN in 1976. At the time of her build she was the world’s largest sailing yacht, a position she occupied for 28 years until the launch of 90m (295ft) ATHENA in 2004
Commissioned to compete in the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, she later became a day charter yacht before being converted into a luxury cruising yacht for a French entrepreneur.
She has changed hands and undergone a number of refits over the years, and was sold to her current Owners in 2010.
