Yacht news

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.

The largest sailing yacht in the world constructed by Oceanco has won top honours at recent Boat International Design & Innovation Awards held in Cortina, Italy. According to the official announcement, the vessel has received the award for "Best Naval Architecture for Sailing Yachts".The Black Pearl’s exterior was designed by Nuvolari Lenard and Ken Freivokh, while her praised naval architecture was developed by Dyksra Architects, who had previously worked on the 88-meter Maltese Falcon, the former largest sailing yacht in the world. Thereby, Black Pearl features similar to Maltese Falcon structure with three rotating masts. Engineering systems and weight management solution, along with elements of structural and general engineering, were developed under professional assistance of Lateral Naval Architects. It is worth mentioning, that the yacht's interior design was commissioned to Valentina Zannier from Nuvolari Lenard and Gerard Villate. A combination of smart and elegant high-tech design and modernised state-of-the-art DynaRig sailing system makes the Black Pearl a genuine masterpiece. Her hull outline is trademarked with an exclusive wave-piercing bow that features not only graceful appearance, but also fuel efficiency. Hybrid propulsion installation and battery bank of high capacity allow her to sail at regeneration mode. As an original sailing yacht, Black Pearl is able to cross the Atlantic Ocean without using fuel. The vessel’s hybrid propulsion system is also designed for energy regeneration, supported by her on-board systems allowing to gain more energy efficiency (for instance, through a system of waste heat recovery).Hans Boerakker, Oceanco Project Manager, stresses that the company’s "relationship and cooperation with the owner and his representatives proved invaluable" in complete reflection of the owner's vision. "We were fortunate enough to be the builders of his dream," he added. The builder believes, that the award should mark a good start of a very busy and promising year for Oceanco in general.

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.

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.

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.