Drunken superyacht crewmember jumps off Venice bridge

A drunken superyacht crewmember has been hospitalised in intensive care after jumping off the Rialto Bridge in Venice, landing on a passing water taxi below.

Reports emerged early this morning that, despite a ban on swimming in the canals, the 50-year old crewmember climbed to the highest point of the bridge in his bathing suit around midnight before diving off and landing on the water taxi below, smashing its windshield. 

He is now in intensive care in a nearby Venice hospital, where the water taxi driver has also been admitted for fractures and severe trauma.

The man, who is believed to be from New Zealand, was in the area with the yacht that he is working on, which officials have reported to be moored nearby in Venice’s Punta della Dogana.

Superyacht News has today reported that there are currently three superyachts in Punta della Dogana, including the 38m Parvati, 59m La Pharaon and 60m Katharine, but it is not yet known which yacht the man worked on.

No further information is known as yet.