NEWS

Mamaroneck 'Ghost ship' goes on an unattended ride

Christopher J. Eberhart
ceberhart@lohud.com
An unfinished yacht is anchored in Long Island Sound about two miles from the Mamaroneck shoreline, as seen in this photo.

MAMARONECK - The 150-foot aluminium hull of an unfinished sailing yacht, known by some as the "Ghost Ship," was found nearly a mile away from where it was originally anchored in Mamaroneck Harbor.

Village Manager Rich Slingerland said the massive boat skeleton broke loose from its mooring about two miles out from Mamaroneck Harbor's east basin during a wind storm last Thursday and drifted until it was grounded on the rocky shoreline near the Westchester Day School.

There were sustained wind speeds between 9 mph and 15 mph with late night gusts that topped out at 30 mph, according to weatherunderground.com.

Slingerland said Derecktor Shipyards, which owns the boat, brought it back to its docks.

THE STORY BEHIND THE BOAT: 'Ghost ship' floats in Mamaroneck Harbor

The state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar sailboat, which is large enough to be seen on Google Maps, once belonged to former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who was convicted of stealing hundreds of millions from Tyco in 2005. He was paroled in 2013 and is living a life of relative modesty in New York City.

The boat has been in Mamaroneck since Derecktor Shipyards closed its Connecticut shipyard 2012.

The boat has been up for sale “as is” for $1 million for nearly a decade. Rex Herbert, a yacht broker from Sparkman & Stephens with 30 years' experience who has been involved in trying to sell the boat since 2010, said in a previous interview that the interior is about 80 percent complete and the aluminum structure outside is about 90 percent complete. He said the sailboat would still require a $20 million investment to complete the original plan.