Fire at Maxi Dolphin shipyard: “We’re restarting immediately. We won’t stop”

“The fire has brought us to a halt and the pain is immense, but we are restarting immediately at another site, for both motor yachts and sailing yachts. We won’t stop.” These are the words Luca Botter, CEO of Maxi Dolphin, shared with Pressmare following the serious fire that destroyed one of the shipyard’s buildings in Erbusco, Franciacorta, late on Monday, 24 August.

The blaze broke out at around 10 p.m. at the facility in Via Gandhi and required a prolonged intervention by the fire brigade, which continued throughout the night. Around twenty crews from Brescia were deployed, supported by units from Bergamo and Mantua. Their efforts contained the fire to the building where it had started, preventing it from spreading to the adjacent shed. Once the last hotspots had been extinguished, operations began to remove the burnt material, clean up the site and make the area safe.

Despite the very serious damage, fortunately no one was involved or injured. Technicians from Arpa Lombardia, the regional environmental protection agency, carried out environmental checks, while the cause of the fire has yet to be established.

Botter confirmed to Pressmare that the building was completely destroyed, together with the three yachts inside: an MD80, an MD75 and an MD51 Power. The MD80 was close to leaving Erbusco, with its departure for Marina di Ravenna scheduled for the end of September.

The images show the violence of the fire, which struck a company well known and highly regarded within the Italian yachting industry. Founded in 1987 by entrepreneur and keen sailor Cav. Vittorio Moretti, Maxi Dolphin has built sailing and motor yachts in Erbusco combining a particularly high level of craftsmanship and technology.

The first was the maxi yacht Carmen di Bellavista, designed by Bruce Farr. Over the nearly four decades that followed, the shipyard worked on designs by Germán Frers, Luca Brenta, Guillaume Verdier, Mark Mills, Bill Tripp, Botin & Partners and Alejandro Bottino, who designed the 58-footer that Pressmare featured during the final stages of its fit-out inside the Erbusco yard.

Among Maxi Dolphin’s best-known yachts are Viriella, Nomad IV, Karma and numerous semi-custom models, as well as the widely sailed Dolphin 81 one-designs. The Erbusco workforce was also entrusted with the conservation restoration for display purposes of Azzurra, the 12 Metre that carried the Italian colours into the America’s Cup for the first time in 1983 and is now permanently exhibited in front of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda clubhouse in Porto Cervo.

Since 2016, the brand has been owned by MD Technologies, headed by Luca Botter, who has been involved with Maxi Dolphin since its foundation. The Erbusco facility covered more than 2,700 square metres indoors and included equipment dedicated to composite construction, including a 40-metre-long oven.

At this moment, our thoughts are above all with the people who work at Maxi Dolphin, the yard’s craftsmen and employees, and their families. Pressmare expresses its support for everyone at the shipyard and hopes that the relocation of operations can take place rapidly, putting into practice Luca Botter’s determination to restart. A story built over almost four decades deserves to continue.

Giuliano Luzzatto

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