RM14.5b gold yacht story is a hoax

July 27, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Baia Yachts of Italy said yesterday that reports of the existence of a 100-foot bespoke yacht purportedly composed almost entirely of gold, platinum and diamonds are false.

The UK’s Daily Mail ran a story on June 20 claiming an anonymous Malaysian businessman had spent GBP3 billion (RM14.5 billion) on the construction of a superyacht called History Supreme out of 100 tonnes of precious metals — with a genuine T. rex dinosaur bone thrown in for good measure.

The Sun, on the other hand, said the yacht had been commissioned in Italy and completed in Malaysia two weeks ago.

In a report on its website, Motorboat & Yachting quoted Mario Borselli, a sales manager at Baia, as saying that the tabloids had taken pictures from their official website without permission.

He carried on to deride the story as “so stupid” that the company wasn’t considering pursuing any legal action.

“Who would believe that a boat would have 100 tonnes of gold on board?” Borselli was quoted by the website as saying.

Motorboat & Yachting also said extensive calls to Stuart Hughes, the Liverpool-based jeweller who claimed to have customised the vessel, have gone unanswered.