Yacht news

Lürssen has delivered the 142m yacht Nord. This impressive explorer has already started her journey to Gibraltar. Previously known as Opus and Project Redwood, Nord was first announced in December 2015. She was designed by the Italian design studio Nuvolari & Lenard. She spreads across six decks and can accommodate thirty-six guests in twenty staterooms. With the volume 10,000 GT, she is now one of the largest superyachts in the fleet. Lürssen is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Aumund. Founded in 1875, Lürssen is one of the world's leading builders of custom luxury superyachts and has launched many of the largest yachts in the global fleet, including Octopus, Rising Sun, and Azzam.Credits: Lürssen

We were shocked last week by the news about the fire on board the 75m sailing yacht Enigma (formerly known as Phocea). The yacht caught a fire near Langkawi, Malaysia. Seven crew members were rescued from the yacht, but the damage incurred by the fire led to the yacht sinking nearly twenty-four hours later. There is an interesting story behind the yacht. Enigma was built at Toulon, France, by DCAN in 1976 for Alain Colas, who was a French sailor. Her name was Club Méditerranée. He disappeared in 1978 in the Atlantic ocean, never to be seen again. In 1985 she was bought from Alain Colas’s wife by Bernard Tapie and renamed Phocea. Her second owner, French businessman Bernard Tapie, who is also an occasional actor, TV host and politician. He owned Adidas from 1990 to 1993; his cycling team La Vie Claire won the Tour de France twice – in 1985 and 1986 – and his football club Olympique de Marseille won the French championship four times in a row, as well as the Champions League in 1993. The documentary Who is Bernard Tapie? was filmed in 2001.From 1986 to 1999, Phocea used it as a cruising yacht. She had a major refit in 2000 in Germany. As a schooner with four masts, she was originally built for speed, and she crossed the Atlantic in 8 days and achieved speeds of 30 knots under sail. Then she was sold to Mouna Ayoub and sold again to her current owners in 2010. The Phocea was the world's largest sailing yacht before the 2004 launching of Athena, by Royal Huisman. She was loved by royalty, and, in August 2005, she crashed into the rocks off Sardinia with Prince and Princess Michael of Kent on board. Three people were seriously injured in this accident. Credits: Asian Yacht Crew/Facebook; LeHuffPost/YouTube

Gulf Craft is appointing Talal Abdin Nasralla as Chief Executive Officer to drive their new growth strategy. Talal joined Gulf Craft in late 2020 as Chief Strategy Officer. His mission will be to implement the company’s new global growth strategy with a focus on strengthening its continued development and capabilities.Talal Abdin NasrallaTalal has a deep understanding of the UAE market and has worked for some of the key players in the banking sector. Starting his career as a Business Development Officer at DMCC’s Dubai Diamond Exchange, he was also Director of the Executive Office at Shuaa Capital PSC, playing a key role in fundraising and managing large-scale projects in the hospitality and real estate sectors. Before joining the Gulf Craft, he was Director of Private Banking at Barclays PLC. Gulf Craft’s Chairman Mohammed H. Alshaali said: “Building on our nearly four decades of heritage in yacht and boat manufacturing, we are now focused on an expansion strategy that will take the Gulf Craft brand to new territories globally. Talal, who brings over 15 years of experience, will lead our management team to strengthen the company’s position as a global industry leader.”Abeer Alshaali said: “In my interim role as acting CEO, we built a professional and strong management team that can lead our company into the next level of growth. With the shifts the industry has seen recently, we are now focused on diversifying our product lines. Talal has developed a roadmap for Gulf Craft’s growth, and he will focus on delivering it.”Since the company’s inception in 1982, Gulf Craft has grown to become one of the top seven shipyards in the world: once a builder of small fishing boats in modest premises, a genuine passion for the sealed Gulf Craft, they then established their credentials as a leader of innovation and technology in the yachting industry. With five brands in the product portfolio, ranging from 31 to 175 feet, Gulf Craft manufactures yachts and boats that appeal to a wide audience such as touring passenger vessels, Silvercraft family day boats, Oryx Sport Cruisers, Nomad Explorer Yachts, and the flagship Majesty Yachts.Credits: Gulf Craft

Zeelander Yachts offers new design features developed from customisation requests in the market for mid-sized motor yachts. From a state-of-the-art boatyard at Groot-Ammers, the experts at Zeelander have developed tailored solutions for its semi-custom range of yachts which include privacy glass and a hydraulic passerelle.Z72 Zeelander’s range extends to three models: the Z44, Z55 and its Z72 flagship. One of the more visible features is a flexible hydraulic passerelle integrated into the curved finish of the Z72’s transom. This slim, elegant option extends at the touch of a button and adjusts smoothly to the height of the dock or quay astern, which is ideally suited to tight stern-to moorings at town quays or busy marinas and is very convenient for those who cruise in the Mediterranean.Privacy glass, tinting with the simple click of a button, can be installed on the aft and side windows on the main deck. Other options include a diving plank, forward-looking sonar and a different bar setup. Zeelander also gives the option of large windows on the Z55 – similar to the Z72 design – whose mullion-free curved glass gives an uninterrupted view for the driver and improves the 360-degree view for guests.“We have always worked closely with our customers to create vessels that are tailored to their personal needs,” says founder Sietse Koopmans. “With our ever-growing clientele, we are continuously developing new features, custom solutions and bespoke options for the most demanding clients, which benefit all future owners as well.”Demand is growing particularly strong in the European market, keeping the yard busy despite the challenges of the pandemic. All Zeelander models can be viewed in-build side-by-side at Zeelander’s Groot-Ammers yard in the Netherlands. And visitors to this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival, which takes place from 7 to 12 September 2021, will be able to tour brand-new Z55 and Z72 yachts.Z72 Zeelander Yachts was founded in 2002 in the Netherlands by Sietse Koopmans. The first model was unveiled to the public in 2008. The launch model Z44 received positive reviews at the Monaco Yacht Show and drew enormous crowds, despite being at an event dominated by much larger yachts. Within three years, the Z44 had been successfully introduced to the US as well as Europe, and it was an obvious direction to add a larger model to the fleet. The first Z55 was delivered in November 2015, and the flagship Z72 was launched in March 2019.Credits: Zeelander Yachts, Jeff Brown

According to the international press, the 145m Solaris has become the eighth vessel in Roman Abramovich’s fleet. She is being built at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany, where they’re preparing her for launch. According to some sources she’ll cost £430 million to build.Solaris has eight decks, as well as a helicopter pad, and she’ll have 48 cabins, accommodating up to thirty-six passengers and a crew of sixty. Lloyd Werft is located on a site covering more than 260,000 square metres in Bremerhaven’s Überseehafen on the German North Sea coast. Three large dry and floating docks, as well as high-performance workshops and logistics sectors, make it possible to build and convert ships more than 300m in length and with a draw up to 11m.Credits: Tom van Oossanen Instagram