£200,000 goes up in flames! British couple hit with huge bill after their 100-year-old sailboat was accidentally set on fire by merchant sailors fiddling with emergency flares in Alicante

A British couple have been left with a £200,000 bill after merchant sailors accidentally set fire to their classic 100-year-old wooden sailboat by blowing off emergency flares as part of their boisterous New Year celebrations.

The Ukrainian trio were arrested and put in a police cell overnight after flames almost destroyed the 20-metre yacht named Maori, built in Scotland and registered in Glasgow, at the Alicante Regatta Club.

The owners heard about the devastating fire while on holiday in northern France and immediately jumped in their car to make the 15-hour drive to the Costa Blanca.

They will now have to pay out the money for the repairs, despite two of the arrested men admitting that during their first court appearance they removed the torches from the ship they were on and set it on fire in the harbour.

The couple has so far been too distraught to talk publicly about what happened.

Well-placed sources said the boat's hull was valued at more than £2.5 million for insurance purposes several years ago.

This image shows the charred deck of the boat

The ship's deck was destroyed. Lawyers for the distraught couple warn that repairs must be completed quickly to prevent rain from washing the ash through the deck and into the cabin.

Two of the suspects are seen near the scene of the fire and are arrested by police

The police collect emergency flares from the arrested suspects

Marcos Cascales Dorta, one of two lawyers acting for the pair who are believed to be based in London, although at least one of them is originally from Scotland, said: 'They are clearly devastated. They have owned the ship for twenty years and use it regularly.

'It is a 20 meter wooden sailboat and although they have no official estimate of the damage done and the money they will have to spend on repairs, the estimate they have been given is around the £200,000 mark.

'Due to Brexit and the difficulties they had in continuing to insure the boat, it was not fully insured, meaning they would have to pay for the repairs and then recover the costs from those responsible for the damage.

'Currently, two of the three merchant sailors are part of an ongoing criminal investigation, one who has admitted to removing the emergency flares from the ship they were on and another who has admitted to lighting them.

“But to compensate, we are seeking to expand that investigation to include the captain of the merchant vessel who was responsible for the safekeeping of the emergency flares and the owner of the vessel.”

The couple's other lawyer, Moises Candela Sabater, added: 'The owners were on holiday in Brittany when they heard about the fire, got into their car and drove to Alicante.

'The sailboat is made of teak wood, which is very expensive.

'Due to the quick response of the firefighters, the ship was not completely destroyed, but there was a lot of damage to the deck.

“The repairs will have to be done quickly so that the ash does not penetrate the inside of the boat when it rains.”

The alarm was raised just after 4 a.m. on New Year's Eve.

A man examines the aftermath of the fire

Aftermath of the fire

Police show torches seized from the sailors

A general view of the port from the Alicante Regatta Club

The unnamed Ukrainians, aged between 20 and 35, were arrested shortly afterwards thanks to the help of two witnesses.

Police found them with some of the emergency flares they had taken from the merchant ship they were on, a Portuguese-flagged ship that had to delay its departure from Alicante after their arrests. Other flares were found in a nearby bin.

A spokesperson for the Spanish National Police said: 'At around 4am on January 1, officers on duty to prevent possible incidents in the port of Alicante noticed that one of the yachts in the port had caught fire after accidentally catching fire had been stung by an emergency flare that had been fired seconds earlier.

“Subsequently, three Ukrainian nationals between the ages of 20 and 35 were identified.

'Five emergency flares identical to those that started the fire were found on it and in a nearby rubbish bin.

“They were arrested on suspicion of paying damages.”