How did Cujo sink? Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed's luxury love yacht plunges 8,200 feet into the Mediterranean
FRENCH RIVIERA, FRANCE: The luxurious yacht Princess Diana and her alleged partner Dodi Al-Fayed were seen together on during their final summer sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday. Cujo, also known as the "love boat" of Diana and Dodi, has sunk after hitting an unidentified object. Following the disaster, seven of the passengers were saved, but the boat sank to a depth of about 8,200 feet (2,500 meters), per local authorities. According to Daily Mail, the event took place off the southern French coast of Beaulieu-sur-Mer on July 29.
Aside from Princess Diana, Cujo has encountered many other famous people in its 50-year history. Dodi Fayed, a film producer and the son of business magnate Mohammed Fayed, utilized it often to host events. Actors including Tony Curtis, Clint Eastwood, Brooke Shields, and Bruce Willis were among those who joined Dodi on the boat. Diana and Dodi were first spotted together in St Tropez in the summer of 1997, which led to suspicions that they were dating.
How did Cujo sink?
The place where Princess Diana took one of her last shots, Cujo, has now perished, more than 20 years after her tragic death. The owner of Cujo is an Italian who lives on the Riviera. After colliding with an unknown object around 18 miles off the French Riviera town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Cujo disappeared beneath the Mediterranean's waves.
According to the Daily Mail, local police claimed that "the skipper of the Cujo issued a mayday. His ship was sinking due to a leak. Rescue boats were sent from Antibes and, after making sure everyone was safe, gendarmes detected a significant water leak at the level of the starboard front hull. Her owner had activated the pumps and kept the engines running, but this didn’t stop the boat sinking."
Cujo's history
According to The Independent, the ancient word "Cujo" means "unstoppable force." Cujo was built in Italy in 1972 for entrepreneur John von Neumann, who told Italy's Baglietto shipyard that he wished for the world's fastest motor yacht. Cujo had two 18-cylinder engines installed, allowing her to reach a top speed of 42 knots. Eventually, the world's richest armaments dealer Adnan Khashoggi's son purchased the boat from Neumann after which he sold it to Dodi Fayed, his cousin.
Diana and her producer boyfriend Dodi were photographed on board Cujo in 1997, merely a few weeks before their deadly car accident in Paris on August 31, making Cujo infamous. The couple's first photographs together taken on the opulent boat sparked a tabloid hysteria that eventually led to the princess' death. Cujo deteriorated after the deaths of Princes Diana and Dodi and was purchased by its current owner for $250,000 at auction in 2020. According to French accounts, Cujo had ongoing maintenance issues and was not in excellent shape when it sank, as per New York Post.