I received some startling news and photographs this morning from broker Gertrud Annevelink of New Zealand-based Charter Experience. She is in Valencia, Spain, in advance of the America's Cup, and says there has been an explosion at a Palma de Mallorca shipyard that destroyed the 88-foot Wally sailing yacht Tiketitan.

According to Annevelink: "It looks like the yacht is a complete loss. It was an explosion caused by contractors using spraying paint or using dissolvent, and somebody else was using a heat gun. Two people were injured but not too seriously."

I confirmed the news via the press office at Wally Yachts in Monaco a few moments ago. "We are all very sad," the press agent told me. "Thank goodness nobody was seriously hurt. It was a very important boat for Wally, and it is a total loss."

The press agent said she could not comment further because there has not yet been an official statement from the captain or a report made to insurance agencies.

Tiketitan was built in 1998 and chartered at a weekly base rate of €35,000 for 10 guests with three crew. According to CharterWorld, she was the "first large cruising yacht featuring the Wally hydraulic canting keel system and unique interior and deck layouts, together with a new system for the engine and generator exhausts."

Here is a 2008 video by The Discovery Channel explaining the features that made Tiketitan so special:

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I will pass along additional details as they come in. Until then, here is another photograph that Annevilink sent me of firefighters working to control the explosion's aftermath:

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