Yacht remains in Chesapeake Bay days after flipping over in open water
Yacht flips over on Chesapeake Bay
A 100-foot yacht called the Lovebug flipped on its side and is stuck in the Chesapeake Bay. Indications are that the boat suffered some sort of catastrophic failure before 12:30 on Saturday. FOX 5’s David Kaplan reports along the Bay in Anne Arundel County where the boat is still stuck.
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. - FOX 5 is continuing to follow the clean-up after a multi-million dollar, 100-foot yacht ran aground in the Chesapeake Bay.
Five people were on board when this happened around 12:30 p.m. Saturday. No one was seriously hurt.
FOX 5 is learning more about the plan to remove the boat from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police is handling the investigation.
A corporal tells FOX 5 they’re close to finalizing the plan of getting the ship, called Lovebug, out.
In short, divers will go in the water to look at the structural integrity of the boat. They’ll also figure out the best place to attach floatation bags, and where a crane could properly attach to re-float the ship.
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Corporal Chris Neville with Maryland Natural Resources Police says they also have to consider other factors.
"They would have to wait for weather conditions to cooperate, so, you know, whether it’s high winds or boat traffic. They’re waiting for the optimal window, but as of right now, salvage has not started, but everything is very much in the works," Neville said.
The ship has become a spectacle for people in nearby Beverly Beach, Anne Arundel County. Kim Leutner lives nearby, has been a boater for 50 years, and still can’t quite wrap her head around it.
"I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay. 50 years. I have never seen anything like this," Leutner said.
There’s currently no time frame on when this will happen, just active planning. The investigation into how this happened is ongoing.
An eyewitness who spoke to the captain tells us the ship was taking on water, so the captain steered it towards shore, where it ran aground.