If this were a real James Bond scenario, it would be a darn good one. A James Bond-themed superyacht, aptly called 007 and restyled to resemble something the world-famous spy would sail, has been refloated, six full months after it was intentionally run aground.
On September 2, 2022, 007 ran aground off the coast of Greece, in Kolona Bay, some 15 meters (49.2 feet) from the beach. Initial reports said that some kind of navigation error had steered the vessel off course, so it hit rocks when it entered shallow waters. The hull was pierced and it started taking on water, so, to prevent it from sinking into deeper waters, the captain ran it aground.
After that, 007 tilted to the port side and eventually capsized, ending up on its side. It spent the next six months that way, with authorities seemingly in no rush to salvage it, though they did put up floating walls to keep pollution under control. As of this moment, the exact damages to the ecosystem are unknown.
On March 6, Greek authorities began the salvage operation, which concluded on March 22, with 007 refloated. If this happened in a James Bond movie, it would probably be the scene before the end credits, and Bond himself (Bond, James Bond) would make an appearance alongside the lady of the moment, and they would kiss as the camera would zoom out on the beautiful vessel, back in an upright position.
But this is no movie, and the situation continues to remain very strange, beyond the fact that authorities waited half a year to remove a vessel that posed a danger to the picturesque area.
By the looks of things, 007 has been abandoned by the owner, a millionaire businessman who was also the captain, amid claims that he deliberately ran it aground for other reasons than those having to do with the danger of sinking. One particular report, included in the second video available at the bottom of the page, says that he did it because the ship was no longer seaworthy and may have had severe balance issues brought on by repeated modifications to the hull.
Delivered in 2006 by Aegean Yachts as Royal Enterprise, 007 was initially a 32-meter (105-foot) that was modified extensively in subsequent refits. When it ran aground, it was 49 meters (160 feet) long and featured all the trappings of larger superyachts, including a touch-and-go helipad and an additional deck that wasn’t in the original design by Yavuz Mete.
According to the latest reports in the Greek media, the millionaire owner has been given one month to recover his superyacht, now that it’s been refloated, after which he will be liable to huge fines. Whether he’s actually coming back for it, after it spent half a year half-underwater, remains to be seen
