SAN DIEGO — A brand-new 56-foot motorsailer sank in San Diego Bay after a problem occurred while the yacht was being lowered into the water from its delivery ship.

Recovery — San Diego Vessel Assist used float bags to raise a new 56-foot motorsailer that had reportedly dropped from a transport ship crane into San Diego Bay, and then towed it to a local boatyard.

The incident reportedly happened June 27 when the yacht reportedly somehow fell from the ship’s onboard crane, smashed against the side of the ship, and began foundering in the water just north of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

“The yacht was in the process of being moved to the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal when it fell off a freight vessel and sank,” said Coast Guard public affairs officer Lt. Josh Nelson.

San Diego Vessel Assist, already en route from Shelter Island with a team of yacht prep specialists who had been scheduled to receive the new vessel, said the motorsailer was badly listing when they arrived.

“From what I understand, the boat bounced off side of the ship and into the water when it fell from the sling,” said San Diego Vessel Assist owner Rob Butler.

“The company that hired us called and said to hurry; their boat was adrift,” Butler explained. “Then they called us right back and said it was listing heavily and taking on water. We got on scene about eight minutes after it fell off the ship, and the stern was already under water.”

There was no way that portable pumps would have been able to keep up with the water inflow at that time, Butler said. The Vessel Assist crew tried to tow the boat to their facility at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, but the boat sank in about 30 feet of water.

“As luck would have it, we had a crew coming down from another recovery in Los Angeles, and they pretty much went from one situation to another,” Butler said.

Salvage crew divers attached air lift bags and floated the boat to a semi-submerged state. They towed the motorsailer awash to Marine Group Boat Works in Chula Vista.

“We got the boat into the ways, but missed the tide,” Butler said. “We went back in the morning, and they lifted the boat out of the water.

Damage was extensive, Butler said. He noted a gaping split on the starboard side from the deck to below the waterline, two holes in the bottom the size of basketballs, and other damage.

“I can’t say whether it’s totaled or not,” Butler said, “but it appeared to sustain horrific damage. The boat was brand-new.”

No injuries were reported.

“Thank goodness there are rules against riding vessels down with the crane,” Butler said. “It may be only 50 or so feet from the deck of the ship to the water — but, for safety reasons, they cannot ride down with the yacht.”

The Coast Guard monitored the vessel throughout the salvage operation to prevent pollution from entering the water. New vessels are characteristically delivered with a minimum amount of fuel aboard.

The ship from which the yacht fell was several hundred feet in length and had reportedly just brought the vessel from overseas. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Coast Guard.