Famously known as the world's largest yacht by gross tonnage, ie interior volume, the 156-meter Dilbar has redefined the notion of space in yachting. The third yacht to bear the same name, she was delivered by Lurssen to her Russian billionaire owner in 2017.
The first Dilbar superyacht to be delivered to Alisher Usmanov, a billionaire investor whose net worth was valued by Forbes at $16 billion, became a 66-meter Oceanco. Launched in 2005 by the Dutch shipyard, the first Dilbar was a significant step forward for the yard thanks to the 66-meter's innovative features such as her spa pool and beach club. Both well ahead of their time.
With an interior by Alberto Pinto, she became one of the most sought-after yachts on the water. Her rounded aft as well as her impressive 1,801GT of interior volume made her stand out from the crowd on the exterior. Inside, amenities included a private cinema, spacious cabins on the main deck, a vast dinning room and a salon with a piano.
Shortly prior to the delivery of his second Dilbar, Usmanov renamed the 66-meter to Ona in 2008 and subsequently put her on the brokerage market. The yacht was then sold in 2010 to US oil mogul, William Kallop at an asking price of €59.9 million.
Lately, Natita was in the press following her being seized by Goldman Sachs from Kallop and then sold. The American oil veteran had taken out a $32 million loan against Natita and his other yacht, the 57-meter Bad Girl, from Goldman before stopping to service it with nearly $28 million still left on it.
The investment bank thus decided to seize the 66-meter yacht from Kallop in Palm Beach and put her on the market. Goldman quickly offloaded Natita from their books by selling the yacht at a final price of $39.9 million, hence covering Kallop's remaining payment on the loan.
Usmanov's second Dilbar became a 110-meter superyacht out of Germany. A close sistership to Pelorus, she was launched by Lurssen in June 2008 and became the world's 17th largest yacht in the world. In addition to this, she also became one of the first yachts on the water to have particle filters on her main engine exhausts.
Known throughout her build as Project Opal, the 110-meter featured some similarities in interior design and amenities with the first Dilbar. A large Jacuzzi with a glass wall and water feature was installed forward of the sundeck with a lounging area around it, both on the 110-meter and the Oceanco. A lounge with a bar and piano was also incorporated into both yachts as well as a private cinema.
The scale of the new superyacht, however, allowed for some new, ameliorated features such as a large owner's office with several meeting areas and lounging area that opens onto the upper aft deck. A separate, executive conference room was also built onboard with an unbeatable view onto the sea through floor-to-ceiling windows. Other improvements include a spacious gym and spa area.
After several years near the top of the list of the world's largest yachts, the Dilbar name leapfrogged onto the number spot with the delivery of the 156-meter behemoth that is now the fleet's flagship. One of yachting's most anticipated projects ever, Dilbar was launched in 2016 and boasted a gross tonnage of 15,917 confirmed by the shipyard.
Around the same time, the 110-meter was renamed from Dilbar to Ona and put on the brokerage market according to landing pages that had then sprung up on websites of superyacht brokers. These have since been taken offline, however, it is yet unknown if the owner of the 110-meter changed or if these simply updated their marketing strategy.
Photo by Josip Baresic
With an exterior design by Espen Oeino, Dilbar now has a gross tonnage of 15,917 tons, hence topping Al Said's 15,850 tons and Azzam's 13,136 tons. Notably, all three of these voluminous yachts were built by Lurssen that has kept fortifying its position as the main destination for megayacht construction.
Impressive facts about the new Dilbar flagship include her beam of 23 meters as well as her deep, 6-meter draft. Onboard over 1,100km of cables were stretched for all of the required wiring and set up. According to the shipyard, 3,800 square meters of living space were built on Dilbar.
Built in under 52 months from the time of signing of the contract to delivery, Dilbar was also the largest yacht ever to feature a diesel electric power plant from an engineering standpoint. This lets the 156-meter yacht get up to a cruising speed of 22.5 knots. Her hull and superstructure represented near 10,000 square meters of faired surfaces.
Ever since her delivery in 2016, Dilbar has drawn the attention of worldwide press as well as social media users around the globe. Her travels throughout the Mediterranean have hence been essentially documented by enthusiasts around the world with her photos now having been taken from nearly every possible angle.
In early 2017, it was reported that a 160-meter berth, the largest in the world, was sold in OneOcean Port Vell, Barcelona. Although the name of the acquirer of the long term lease that is set to last until 2036 wasn't released, Dilbar is statistically the only yacht that could have used the berth to its full potential, which it has indeed done during the off season.
Fully renovated in 2014 through a €100 million investment led by the UK-based Salamanca Group, OneOcean Port Vell has become a hype destination for large superyachts in recent quarters thanks to its newly built amenities. In 2017, they had reported a 742% spike in visits of 100m+ yachts. Later that year, the marina was acquired by Qatari investment bank, QInvest together with an investment fund beneficially owned by Russian billionaire, Vagit Alekperov.
Currently Russia's fifth richest man with a net worth of $16 billion according to Forbes, Alisher Usmanov was also featured as one of the most powerful people in the world on their 2016 ranking. Primarily known in yachting through the Dilbar fleet, Usmanov is best known in business circles as the main shareholder of USM Holdings.
USM's initial equity stakes primarily stem from the metal and industrial sectors. These have, however, over time diversified and now also include ownership of Megafon, one of Russia's largest telecom operators. To the United Kingdom, Usmanov is best known as one of the co-owners of the Arsenal football club.
To the tech community, Usmanov is one of the most successful investors in modern history, having made investments into companies such as Facebook, Alibaba and Mail.ru.
Photos via Superyachts Gibraltar, Yacht Harbour, Instagram
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Piracy, an extremely rare, yet often talked about hazard in the boating space, has yielded few solutions other than armed security whilst cruising in dangerous areas. The real estate market has come up decades ago with the concept of a panic room where owners could hide in the event of an armed robbery. How could this actually work in yachting?Simon Rowland, CEO of Veritas International Consultants, indicates that while the general concern with security matters in the world is growing, it is not surprising that these issues transmit into the yachting industry. “If you go back five years, it would have been a hard justification to have a panic room on board, but now it is becoming more of a requirement,” claims Rowland.There are two significant functions that a panic room should perform. It should not only support life, but also enable communication between the sheltered ones and the outer world. That is why the consultants from Veritas company normally recommend to locate a panic room at the crew mess, and it is important to think over all security measures on design stage. It is also cheaper to equip a safe room within that area, as a lot of important facilities such as water supply and toilets are already fit into the mess room.However, the locations, where a completely secure room can be equipped, are not limited to the crew mess. Rowland reports that they have advised several clients to equip their room or bathroom as secondary safe rooms, so that they could hide themselves in case they feel anxious or if the boat is being robbed.It is natural, that most of the owners would not stay on board while the boat passes through dangerous zones, therefore panic rooms are in a greater degree a measure aimed to protect the crew rather than the owners. The yachts themselves might be comparatively vulnerable against piracy, as conventional defense mechanisms applied to many vessels do not seem that effective. For instance, many rely on razor wire, but in fact this measure would not normally prevent the criminals from getting on board.That is why the need of taking security measures on-board is becoming more vital these days. Rowland stresses, that it is much more common to have a fully equipped safe room on larger vessels of 70 metres and above, as it might be quite problematic to fit such room onto a smaller yacht. All in all, the danger of piracy or any other form of attack on a large vessel is very low in our time. Nonetheless, panic rooms have become one of the latest trends the owners would not want to overlook in their superyacht design.
February 14, 2019
Oceanco’s new project currently named Y716 has been demonstrated for the first time earlier today, moved within the company’s facility at Albasserdam, Netherlands. Official launch and delivery of Y716 to her owner is scheduled later this year.Photo by Tom Van OosanenNot so much information on the project has been revealed so far. Y716 is trademarked with aluminum superstructure featured with teak decks on a steel hull within a 14,2-metre beam. Additionally, her interior volume will make 2950 GT. Her top speed will reportedly be reached at 20 knots, with cruising speed of 18,5 knots.Photo by Tom Van OosanenThe yacht will be equipped with spa zones, swimming pool and Jacuzzi, beach club, underwater lights system, tender garage and helicopter hangar. Accommodation capacity will make 23 guests and up to 33 crew members onboard. Photo by Tom Van OosanenIn contrast to her 90-metre forerunner Dar, that featured extravagant black-and-white contrasts resembling killer whale colouration, new superyacht’s exterior designer Espen Oeino has limited her surface outfit to classical white colour.Dar (90m), OceancoY716 is announced to be the only project to be launched by Oceanco in 2019. Meanwhile, the company has received several design industry awards for their project Black Pearl.
February 13, 2019
The story behind Oceanco’s 91,5-metre luxury superyacht Equanimity takes another twist. According to Malaysian lawyer Jeremy Joseph, parties potentially interested in purchasing Equanimity can bow approach the government or 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) alongside the yachts’ broker Burgess. Burgess though retain their right to be considered an exclusive central agent. It was earlier announced, that the auction for Equanimity will take place in March 2019.Mr Joseph, who represents both 1MDB and the government, reports that prospective buyers can negotiate directly with them from that moment on. The main purpose of this decision is to increase potential sale opportunities of the vessel. At the moment, the government of Malaysia allocates $500,000 monthly for Equanimity’s maintenance, according to Bloomberg. The yacht has been reportedly remained in a good condition under a supervision of 21 crew members.Burgess is determined to sale the superyacht at a price not lower than $130,000,000, which halves her initially estimated price of $250,000,000. The main concern of potential purchasers remains the vessel’s undesirable past, that could potentially cause trouble to owners once they leave Malaysian waters, as several claims from other countries have been already levied against Equanimity. However, Sitpah Selvaratnam, consultant at Tommy Thomas Advocates and Solicitors, disproves those risks. The judicial sale would determine an official start-over of the yacht’s history and wipe out her notorious background, he claims.
February 13, 2019
44,06-metre Benetti’s yacht Diamond 145 recently presented at Cannes Yachting Festival has been announced sold. The yacht is currently under construction at the company’s Viareggio shipyard with her delivery scheduled to the beginning of 2020.The project features a 9,05-metre beam and a maximum draft of 2,28 metres, whilst her full load displacement makes 362 tonnes.Diamond 145’s exterior design concept was developed by Giorgio M. Cassette, a renowned Italian architect. In general, the project demonstrates smooth and elegant lines entwining into her particularly high hull sides and elongated line of reverse sheer. Glazed surfaces dominate within the concept, implementing two important functions: they highlight the yacht’s visual length and brighten her interiors with natural light.The vessel’s interior design was commissioned to Salvagni Architetti. The main idea was to transmit the overall concept of smooth twisted lines into inner zones and open-air recreational areas and fill the yacht’s spacious rooms with light. The motor yacht can accommodate up to 10 guests in 5 cabins, coloured in light natural palette. Meanwhile, Diamond 145’s crew accommodation capacity is limited to 7 people. The master suite is situated at the main deck’s bow area and is extended to the beam’s size. The vessel offers a variety of lounge zones featuring onboard beach club at water level in the stern.The yacht will be reaching her top speed at 15 knots with normal cruising speed of 11 knots, powered by two MAN engines of 1400 HP each. Generally, Diamond 145’s range can boasts 3,800 nautical miles. Franco Fusignani, CEO of the Bennetti Group, emphasises the significance of this contract to the company’s general course. "Diamond 145 was presented only four months ago but right from the design stage we realised it was a model with incredible potential, representing the perfect synthesis of the core features of the Benetti Displacement Class across its entire history", he comments.
February 12, 2019
According to a recent update from Zelanian yacht builder Profab Central Engineering, their current catamaran project The Beast planned for delivery in spring 2019, has been nearly completed. The Beast has been already moved from her Palmerston North build yard, and her superstructure has been joined to the hull at her new location at Loxton beach. The yacht is now being perfected with final touches, before her release for sea trials. This 39,5-metre superyacht project features a 2,3-metre draft and an 11,7-metre beam, offering a lot of space on-board, while her gross tonnage of 493 tonnes is spread upon three decks. The Beast's exterior fully-aluminum design concept was developed by LOMOcean, known among others for their work on Echo Yachts' Charley's naval architecture. One of key design features of the yacht is her large aft deck more typical for work boats. That is why The Beast has an option of storing a full range of tenders and water toys. This enables launching and retrieving of a small custom-built sport fishing yacht (13 metre), what makes it easier to reach narrow or distant spots (for instance, remote atolls). A 9,3-metre amphibious tender and a rescue boat shall be listed among other equipment options of the vessel.The yacht’s accommodation capacity amounts to 12 guests with up to ten crew members on-board. The guests can comfortably use 4 double cabins that can be easily converted into twins and a twin cabin fit with Pullman beds. Meanwhile, the interior decoration will be designed in the owners’ cooperation with Oceania Interiors studio based in New Zeland. When it comes to open-air recreational zones, they can be found on the upper deck along with a barbecue of teppanyaki style.A pair of Caterpillar C32 engines should secure extensive cruising range of The Beast, while the vessel’s total fuel capacity amounts to 76,000 litres.
February 12, 2019