Fate of four burnt yachts still up in air

A picture of the smoke from the Golfe-Juan beach.

The cruiser is an old vessel called Linka, made out of wood and it was part of four other yachts which caught fire at the same time in Antibes.

The owner of the boat, an unnamed retiree, believed to have been holidaying on the French Riviera, watched helplessly as firefighters battled to stop the huge fire from spreading to other boats in the port.

Riviera Zeitung, Kristin Altmann was at the scene and said the fire was intense and the sky was completely grey. The smoke from the fire drifted across the beach area of Golfe Juan.

Questioned by the police in Antibes, the owner of the Linka, said before the fire broke out, he had left the port area to speak to a friend and that when he came back, his boat was already ablaze.

He added that there were no risk of a fire breaking out on the boat and that there was no one around the area who looked suspicious.

The police in Antibes are still investigating into the cause of the fire.

Many yacht owners have villas in the surrounding upper hills of the port making the Camille Rayon marina, the ideal location to moor permanently.

It would not be surprising if the cause of the port fire was linked to an arson attack. But nothing has been proved on this theory.

AA