A $16 million Italian custom luxury sailing yacht belonging to a Wall Street mogul sank in the Fort Pierce port in early May, and the owner believes it was “sabotaged.”
The Legacy, built for Peter Halmos in 1995 by famed Italian yacht builder Perini Navi, has been anchored off Derecktor Shipyards since 2022.
According to Halmos, he initially wanted to dock the boat in Stuart, though the plan fell through and he “temporarily” moved her to the Fort Pierce port.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office are currently investigating the sinking.
Here’s what we know.
Who owns $16 million sailing yacht Legacy?
Owner of the $16 million Italian custom luxury sailing yacht is longtime Palm Beach County resident Peter Halmos.
How was the Legacy yacht ‘sabotaged’?
Halmos told TCPalm someone used a crowbar to break into his 158-foot yacht, disabled alarms and cameras, drilled a hole in the hull, and opened various compartments to flood it.
Halmos said he filed criminal complaints with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. TCPalm requested those public records, but FWC declined to release them, saying it is still actively investigating the sinking. The Sheriff’s Office has not responded.
However, Halmos provided TCPalm with all photos and documents he gave to authorities, including photos of the crowbar and damage to the yacht, he said.
Where did Legacy sink in Fort Pierce, Florida?
The Legacy mega yacht sank May 4 in Fort Pierce near Derecktor Shipyards, where it had been anchored since 2022, with no one aboard.
Though Halmos claims the cameras and alarms were temporarily disabled, he said an alarm eventually came back online and alerted him to his yacht sinking about 9:30 p.m. “when an interior salon camera transmitted an alarm and photo showing S/Y Legacy’s interior almost completely submerged in water,” Halmos wrote to the FWC.
The Legacy yacht was refloated in Fort Pierce, Florida days after sinking
Halmos had his yacht refloated May 14 and the drilled hole repaired May 16.
On May 18, FWC classified his vessel as “derelict” and ordered it removed. Using Florida law’s definition of derelict, Halmos argued the yacht is not “junked because it was not substantially stripped of vessel components nor was it discarded.”
Before the yacht sank, FWC inspected it multiple times and had several conversations with county officials about it, but had been unable to deem it derelict until now, county spokesperson Erick Gill told TCPalm.
Halmos reportedly has not given up hope of repairing the Legacy.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Sailing yacht Legacy, worth $16M, sinks in Fort Pierce. What we know
Reporting by Ashley Ferrer and Timothy O’Hara, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ashley Ferrer and Timothy O'Hara, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
