germania nova yacht accident

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Crewmember dies after falling on sailing yacht Germania Nova

A female crewmember has died tragically after falling from a mast on board the sailing yacht Germania Nova , it has been confirmed.

The 55.42 metre yacht was moored in Jamaica’s Erroll Flynn Marina when the incident occurred at around 14:30 on Tuesday (March 15), the Jamaica Observer reports.

According to local sources, the crewmember was cleaning the mast when a rope came undone, causing her to fall onto the deck. The young woman was rushed to a nearby hospital with multiple injuries but could not be revived.

In a statement, Niall Robinson, partner at Germania Nova ’s charter agent Hill Robinson , said: “The crewmember's next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family, friends and fellow crewmembers at this very difficult time. Hill Robinson and the owners are doing everything possible to support the family and friends, and of course an immediate investigation is already underway.

“We request the courtesy of privacy for her family and all those affected,” he added. “No further statements will be issued until the results of the investigation are known.”

Update: A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to cover the family's costs resulting from the incident. At the time of writing, the appeal has raised more than $11,000 in less than 24 hours.

Launched by Spanish shipyard Factoría Navale Marín in 2011, Germania Nova is a twin-masted sailing yacht with accommodation for up to ten guests and 13 crewmembers.

This tragic incident comes 12 months after 33-year-old Toni Hristov Kolev was involved in a fatal accident on board Ocean Victory , which happened while the 140 metre Fincantieri superyacht was mooring up off the coast of Koh Tachi, Thailand. The exact circumstances of Kolev’s death are also the subject of an ongoing investigation.

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Post-mortem rules that British teenager Bethany Smith died by misadventure

• Stef Bottinelli

A post-mortem examination has established that Welsh teenager Bethany Smith died instantly after falling off the mast of schooner Germania Nova in Jamaica. The death certificate will record death by misadventure

22 March 2017

YBW has spoken exclusively to the family of Welsh teenager Bethany Smith who have confirmed their daughter died instantly after falling off the mast of the luxury yacht. The death certificate will record death by misadventure.

David and Sarah Smith along with Beth’s brother Bryn will pay tribute to their daughter and sister and scatter her ashes  on Saturday 1st April 2017 in Chacachacare, Trinidad. Family friends and some crew member of Germania Nova will attend the gathering to celebrate the 18 year old sailing enthusiast’s life. An investigation into Bethany’s death is ongoing. 

16 March 2017

Bethany Smith, 18, was cleaning the mast of the 60-metre luxury yacht Germania Nova when she fell onto the deck.

The teen, from Glyn-Dyfrdwy, Denbighshire, Wales, was taken to the Port Antonio Hospital in Portland, Jamaica, but later died of multiple injuries.

According to the local newspaper, Jamaica Observer, Bethany suffered the fall after the ropes which were tying her to the yacht’s mast came undone. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

The 18-year-old sailing enthusiast was working as a junior deckhand on the luxury schooner Germania Nova. She had joined the yacht a year earlier, after reportedly falling in love with it when she saw it in Trinidad.

Bethany Smith and her brother Bryn left the UK with their parents David and Sarah Smith 10 years ago to sail around the world on their yacht. The Smiths travelled to 19 countries in 9 years and homeschooled their children. They first cruised around the Mediterranean, then went on to the Canary Islands before crossing the Atlantic. The family then sailed to the Caribbean. Bethany documented their voyages in her blog,  http://www.flutingtootingbethany.com/ .

Friends of her parents have set up a GoFundMe memorial fund  to help the family with the expenses following the tragedy. Over $12,000 has already been donated.

On the GoFundMe page, Bethany is described as “a generous person and a ray of sunshine who brought laughter and music into the lives of those she met”.

Niall Robinson, the partner in Hill Robinson Yacht Management, the company which charters the Germania Nova, released a statement yesterday, which reads: “ We are desperately sad to confirm that a tragic accident has occurred on Germania Nova leading to the fatality of a crewmember.

“The crewmember’s next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family, friends and fellow crew members at this very difficult time. Hill Robinson and the Owners are doing everything possible to support the family and friends and of course an immediate investigation is already underway.”

YBW ‘s Digital Content Producer Katy Stickland is a friend of the Smiths and taught Bethany to dive when the family was cruising Tobago.

“Beth brought joy and touched the lives of everyone who came into contact with her and all of us are worse off with her no longer in our lives,” remembers Katy.

“She was a caring, special, intelligent, beautiful and talented young woman, who was just starting her professional sailing career and she was so excited about working on Germania Nova.

“She was passionate about sailing and had such knowledge having lived on board since she was a child, and all of us could see that she was destined for great things. She was truly unforgettable. This tragedy has left everyone who knew her heartbroken.”

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By SuperyachtNews 16 Mar 2017

Fatality aboard sailing yacht Germania Nova

A crewmember dies after falling from the mast aboard the schooner….

Yacht management agency Hill Robinson announced in a press release yesterday that on 14 March a crewmember died in a tragic accident aboard 59.80m  Germania Nova in Jamaica.

“The crewmember's next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family, friends and fellow crewmembers at this very difficult time,” said the announcement, signed by partner Niall Robinson. “Hill Robinson and the owners are doing everything possible to support the family and friends and of course an immediate investigation is already underway.”

The sailing yacht was docked in the Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica, at the time of the accident. Local news sources initially said that a male crewmember had died, but revised the story to say that a teenage female British national had fallen to the deck while working up the mast. She suffered multiple injuries and later died in hospital. 

There is always an element of risk in handling large, powerful sailing yachts, which professional crew are well aware of, and working the spars and rigging is especially hazardous. Serious injuries and even fatalities are not uncommon in racing conditions, but mercifully rare in other circumstances. Having sailed the world aboard her family’s yacht since she was a child, the victim was young but experienced. She had worked on Germania Nova for over a year.

A replica of the 1908 schooner Germania , designed by Max Oertz for Dr. Gustav Krupp,  Germania Nova was built using identical hull lines, sail and deck plans by Factoria Naval Marin in Spain in 2011 to Germanischer Lloyd 100A5 Sailing Yacht Class notation and MCA LY2 designation.

Hill Robinson is to be commended for its prompt and sensitive media management of a tragic accident. It is hoped that details of the investigation will be released as soon as possible, so that lessons can be learned and such incidents avoided in the future.

“The investigation is already well underway and I hope it won’t be too long before we can provide further information,” a spokesperson for Hill Robinson assured  SuperyachtNews .

Out of respect for the company’s efforts to protect her family, we prefer not to name the crewmember on our website at this time. But a gofundme memorial fund is online for those who wish to make a contribution to help the family meet the major expenses resulting from their sad loss. To find this, use the search word ‘Jamaica’ on the gofundme website .

Image: Justin Ratcliffe

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British teenager Bethany Smith dies falling from luxury yacht's mast

The 18-year-old, who died from her injuries in a Jamaica hospital, had left Britain a decade ago to sail around the world.

Thursday 16 March 2017 22:01, UK

A British teenager has died after reportedly falling off the mast of a yacht she had been working on in Jamaica.

Bethany Smith, 18, is thought to have died in hospital from multiple injuries after the accident on board luxury 60 metre-long schooner Germania Nova, which was berthed near Portland, Jamaica.

A GoFundMe page set up to help her family says she "fell off the mast" of the yacht on Tuesday.

According to local newspaper Jamaica Observer, she was cleaning the mast of the vessel "when the ropes became undone and she fell onto the deck".

The junior deckhand, originally from Glyn-Dyfrdwy, Denbighshire, in North Wales, left the UK a decade ago to sail around the world with her family on their yacht.

She joined the Germania Nova more than a year ago after "falling in love" with the boat in Trinidad, according to a crew profile.

The GoFundMe page describes her as "a generous person" and "a ray of sunshine who brought laughter and music into the lives of those she met".

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The page, which has raised more than $11,000 (£8,950) for her family, says that the 18-year-old's mother Sarah is in Trinidad, her father Dave is in the Netherlands and her brother Bryn is in Antigua.

It states: "This family has suffered an unspeakable loss. This fund will help alleviate a portion of their financial stress, so they don't have to worry about the costs of being together to lay Bethany to rest."

Niall Robinson, partner at Hill Robinson Yacht Management which charters the Germania Nova, said: "The crew member's next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family, friends and fellow crew members at this very difficult time.

"Hill Robinson and the owners are doing everything possible to support the family and friends and of course an immediate investigation is already underway."

After leaving the UK in 2007, Miss Smith and her family spent three years in the Mediterranean before spending a year in the Canary Islands.

Miss Smith wrote about her travels in a blog with the motto "Live life for today, you never know what tomorrow will bring".

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are in contact with the authorities in Jamaica following the death of a British national in Portland and are supporting their family at this very difficult time."

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Tragic Incident Occurs on S/Y Germania Nova

According toa press release by Hill Robinson, a crewmember has passed away following atragic accident on S/Y Germania Nova .

Local newssource Jamaica Observer reports that the incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. onMarch 14 at Errol Flynn Marina in Portland, Jamaica, when a female crewmember fellwhile cleaning the vessel’s mast. She reportedly sustained multiple injuries and was takento Port Antonio Hospital, where she died while being treated.

HillRobinson states in its press release:

“Thecrewmember's next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with thefamily, friends, and fellow crewmembers at this very difficult time. HillRobinson and the owners are doing everything possible to support the family andfriends and of course an immediate investigation is already underway.

We request the courtesy of privacy for her family and allthose affected.

No further statements will be issued until the results ofthe investigation are known.”

UPDATE, 3/16: The deceased’s name has been confirmed as Bethany Smith, who was 18 years old. Her family has set up a GoFundMe page for travel and funeral costs.

More from Dockwalk

British Teenager Bethany Smith Dies In Yacht Accident Aboard The Germania Nova In Jamaica

Assistant News Editor

A teenager has died after reportedly falling from the mast of a luxury yacht in Jamaica.

Bethany Smith, 18, was working as a junior deckhand on Germania Nova - a 60 metre-long schooner - when the accident happened on Tuesday.

She is thought to have died in hospital from multiple injuries, according to reports on Thursday.

Smith fell from the mast of the vessel - according to a GoFundMe page set up to help her family - while the yacht was berthed near Portland, Jamaica.

The teenager, originally from Glyn-Dyfrdwy, Denbighshire, in North Wales, left the UK a decade ago to sail around the world with her family on their yacht.

She joined the Germania Nova more than a year ago after falling in love with the boat in Trinidad, according to a crew profile.

Smith wrote a blog about her adventures titled Flutingtootingbethany , with the motto “Live life for today, you never know what tomorrow will bring”.

The GoFundMe page described her as “a generous person and ‘a ray of sunshine’ who brought laughter and music into the lives of those she met”.

The teenager’s mother, Sarah, is in Trinidad, her father Dave is in the Netherlands and her brother Bryn is in Antigua, the page states.

The fund has raised more than £9,000 to help “alleviate a portion of their financial stress, so they don’t have to worry about the costs of being together to lay Bethany to rest”.

Niall Robinson, partner at Hill Robinson Yacht Management which charters the Germania Nova, said: “We are desperately sad to confirm that a tragic accident has occurred on Germania Nova leading to the fatality of a crew member.

“The crew member’s next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family, friends and fellow crew members at this very difficult time.

“Hill Robinson and the owners are doing everything possible to support the family and friends and of course an immediate investigation is already under way.”

He added: “We request the courtesy of privacy for the family and all those affected.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in contact with the authorities in Jamaica following the death of a British national in Portland and are supporting their family at this very difficult time.”

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