None hurt in party yacht 'Jasmin' storm crash

A party boat in Dubai carrying 95 passengers on board crashed over the weekend in the midst of the thunderstorm that swept across parts of the UAE in the early hours of Friday morning.

Super Yacht Jasmin, which is run by Epic Luxury Yachts (ELY), was hosting a private gig on Thursday night when it encountered 40-knot winds and rough seas around 3.30am on Friday morning.

Satheerth Kunneth or DJ Shadow, who was spinning the decks for the private party that night, recalled the harrowing experience, saying: “I was the DJ for a private party on the boat that night.

“We left around midnight and were supposed to come back in three hours. However, at around 3am, the storm hit.

“We were already on our way back to the shore, but the storm got worse and the yacht ultimately crashed, forcing us to jump ship.”

Continuing, he said: “The boat crashed up against the rocks twice in fact. It was that second impact when all of us in the yacht realised something’s wrong. I  heard someone saying, ‘This is an emergency! Jump’!”

Kunneth recalled that the impact of the two blows to the yacht was not that forceful, saying: “When we made impact that first time, we had no idea what we crashed onto, it just looked like a bridge.

“But I know none of really felt it too much because most of the people were dancing anyways.”

Left with no choice, the 95 passengers jumped ship onto the land they had made impact with.

“We had no idea where we were and many were panicking.

“Finally, we walked through the rain in the early hours and discovered we were on the runway of Skydive Dubai,” he added.

Vikas Goel of ELY confirmed the incident with Emirates 24|7, saying none of the passengers on board were injured, due to the quick thinking of the captain.

He said: “The wind was unexpected. The weather forecast was normal when the boat set out, but suddenly there was a typhoon sort of wind, which saw speeds pick up from 10 knots to 40 knots.

“The captain is very experienced, and he docked the boat next to Skydive Dubai and let the passengers off immediately. No one was injured at all and everyone safely walked off the boat.

“It was one of those unfortunate forces of nature.”

Jasmin, which ended up being pushed up against the rocks, has a legal capacity to carry 160 passengers plus crew.

Goel stated that the damage is currently being assessed, but should be “quite a bit”, with the repair work to take approximately three months or so.

A crane is to be brought in to help with the repair work.

Quiz Kunneth if the entire ordeal gave him a scare, and he said: “It was really scary, especially when we made it to land and no one knew where on earth we were.

“Now in hindsight, since we all are safe, we look back on it as a small incident, but I suppose anything could have gone wrong, and looking at the number of calls and messages I have got from friends over the last few days, it probably wasn’t a laughing matter.”

Kunneth, however, is all praises for the boat crew who assisted the passengers in every way.

Ask the DJ if he would consider another yacht gig and he replied: “Funnily enough, I am booked for another yacht party next week, but yeah it was a bit traumatising first couple of days after, but now I am okay.

“I guess it’s something which is not in our hands, and no one really expected a storm in April in Dubai.”

Jasmin is a custom built yacht from the US, measuring 125-feet in length and 22-feet wide, with three levels and a cuddy level.

The yacht has five large bedrooms that can accommodate 12 guests, plus one large Presidential Suite and comes equipped with a steam room, sauna and a Jacuzzi/Pool.
 

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