Liveras Yachts Owner Killed in Mumbai
Terrorist attack claims life of a well-known megayacht owner.
December 2, 2008
Andreas Liveras.
Andreas Liveras, who rose from humble beginnings as a bakery deliveryman to own some of the world's largest motoryachts, was shot to death Wednesday, November 26, in the Mumbai terror attacks. He was 73.
Liveras, a British resident who was born on Cyprus, was in India on business when he went to the Taj Mahal Palace because he had heard its restaurant served the city's best curry. Just after he ordered his meal, gunmen stormed the hotel. Liveras was apparently locked in a room with about a thousand other people. He managed to contact his family by cell phone, and to give a live report to BBC News from inside the hotel, before the gunmen opened fire.
His company, Liveras Yachts, has been a fixture in the large-yacht charter market for decades. He started out by refitting high-capacity motoryachts including the 175-foot Princess Lauren and the 189-foot Princess Tanya during the 1990s, and then cemented his reputation as the large-yacht leader in charter by building the 280-foot sisterships Alysia and Annaliesse in 2005. This past May, he unveiled his newly refitted 295-foot motoryacht Lauren L and announced plans for a pair of 354-foot sisterships that recently began construction in Western Europe. Among other things, his completed projects drove today's trend toward bigger and more luxurious spas onboard charter motoryachts.
Liveras was well-known in the yachting industry for his generosity and largesse, both of which he displayed by throwing lavish parties to promote his yachts at boat shows. In fact, invitations went out last month for a "carnival night" party that is scheduled to be held this Saturday aboard Lauren L at the Antigua charter show.
I imagine that every international charter broker on the island will be in attendance, to raise a glass in Liveras's honor. I know that I am eager to make good on my own RSVP, to celebrate the man whose work has had such a powerful influence on the global large-yacht industry. His senseless death is tragic, but his legacy is triumphant.
