At approximately 2340 on Sunday 24 August 2008, a gang of four masked men boarded the 160-foot charter yacht “Tiara” from a motorized dinghy, and proceeded to rob its nine guests and ten crew members. The yacht was at anchor in Golfe de Porto Novo, Corsica (41°30’.3N 009°16’E).

It is the first time such a security breach has occurred in French waters, officials said.

The yacht had a charter party of German financiers aboard and although the thieves were only onboard for a few minutes, they managed to get away with 138,000 Euros ($204,000), according to reports.

The gang were armed with handguns and rifles and easily overpowered the crew. The intruders ordered the captain to empty the yacht’s safe and demanded that the nine guests onboard the “Tiara” hand over cash and valuables to them.

The captain alerted the Coast Guard but the perpetrators have yet to be arrested. The French Coast Guard purportedly stated that no shots were fired during the robbery and no one was hurt. The “Tiara” was reported to have been traveling from the Italian island of Sardinia and heading for a town near Porto-Vecchio. The yacht is registered in the Cayman Islands.