Leaking superyacht never in danger, says builder

Repairs to a $15 million superyacht are likely to start today after it took water just north of Auckland and made a dash for the nearest port.

The 28-metre superyacht Ciliam was 40km north of Great Barrier Island, heading for its new home in the Mediterranean on Wednesday when a seal failed in the rudder and it began taking water.

The luxury cruising catamaran turned around and headed back to Great Barrier as the nine crew started the pumps.

Mike Palmer, operation manager for Salthouse Boatbuilders in Auckland, the company that built the yacht, said the yacht was never in danger and was designed to very high international cruising standards.

"It was nothing major but enough to make them turn back."

He said until the boat had been inspected it was not known whether it would be returned to Auckland and slipped for repairs or if it could be repaired at Great Barrier Island.

"We understand it took on quite a lot of water. We don't know where the failure was."

He said it was a mystery why the seal failed. Nothing on the boat was experimental.

Ciliam is thought to be the largest cruising catamaran built in the Southern Hemisphere and took 22 months to build.

- NZPA