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New year, updated rankings. What are the largest superyachts in the world? According to the “luxury guru” magazine, Robb Report, the ranking ranges from huge to gigantic. Suffice it to say that just to enter the rankings (in 25th place) you have to be at least 123 meters.
Born as a Jupiter project while under construction, Al Lusail is a yacht launched in 2016 by Lürssen. It accommodates 36 guests on board, but 56 crew are needed to “move” it. With a hull length of 123 meters, it is ranked 25th largest in the world. The width? Over 20 meters 66. The exterior design was handled by London-based design studio H2 Yacht Design. The large glass facades also offer remarkable panoramic views from inside. The result is a 123-meter superyacht with a sporty look. The interior is a March and White design and features a large central interior salon that opens the center of the yacht to natural light and space. At Lusail it has a declared maximum speed of 15 knots. A tender garage and a bow helipad make it very accessible from both air and water.
Launched in 2015 by Lürssen, the 123.20-meter Golden Odyssey is owned by Prince Khalid Bin Sultan and is the largest yacht in his fleet. Known as the Tatiana project when it was under construction at the German shipyard, it was designed in the exteriors by Martin Francis, known for his pioneering use of glass walls, and in the interiors by Alberto Pinto. It has a gross tonnage of 7,600 tons and is a Lloyds Register class yacht.
Launched in 2010, Katara has an exterior by Espen Øino and features a large helipad on the aft area and an open area on the bow. It can carry as many as two tenders and a SOLAS lifeboat. Other bridges offer some sun exposure, but most are protected. Few details of the interior of the late Alberto Pinto. The yacht’s owner, according to sources, is the Emir of Qatar.
Once a Russian research ship, she was originally launched from the Szczecin shipyard in Poland. In 2010 she underwent a super refit at the Elefsis shipyard in Greece. It has been transformed from a research vessel into a custom-built modern superyacht. UK-based H2 Yacht Design was responsible for both the interior and exterior. The swimming pool, spa, contemporary décor (including custom-made furniture, signature joinery), and a large interior space have transformed a working boat into one of the world’s largest superyachts. Maryah, which reaches a top speed of 18 knots with a twin Azipod, ABB’s azimuth electric thruster.
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, had this superyacht built by Lürssen. Octopus has eight decks and is the world’s largest explorer. In essence, a superyacht, complete with amenities, capable of anchoring at the North Pole. This giant, delivered in 2003, has on board two helicopters, seven tenders, a large SUV and an inner dock with two submarines. A glass-bottomed observation room provides a spectacular view while sailing. Espen Øino designed the exterior, including a full-size basketball court on the aft deck, while Jonathan Quinn Barnett handled the interior. The yacht underwent a refit in 2019. It reaches a maximum speed of 20 knots.
Launched in 2008, Al Mirqab was built for the former prime minister of Qatar under the supervision of Kusch Yachts at the German shipyard Peters Werft in Wewelsfleth. The exterior, designed by Tim Heywood, includes a long, navy blue hull with a white superstructure. The yacht’s diesel-electric propulsion provides azimuth pod propulsion and gives this superyacht a top speed in excess of 21 knots. Al Mirqab has cabins for 36 people and a crew of 45.
Fincantieri thus made its debut in the world of superyachts. At the time of delivery in 2011 (surpassed three years later by Ocean Victory), it was the largest yacht ever launched in Italy. Designed by Espen Øino, it is a seven-deck yacht and features a long blue hull crowned by a white superstructure. On board Seren the owner has two helipads and a hangar, a large swimming pool and a garage large enough for a submarine. Pascale Reymond of Reymond Langton Design created the interior (43,056 square feet).
Espen Øino’s dark hull and superstructure was one of the highlights of 2018. Created as the Thunder project, it was built by Lürssen and has a superstructure that makes glass and three-deck high super windows a super yacht design. The yacht sleeps 18 in nine cabins. Little is known about the interior designed by François Zuretti.
An old lady of the sea, launched back in 1931, Savarona was built for American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwallader. The yacht was later bought by Turkey to become the presidential yacht of Mustafa Kemal “Atatürk,” founder of modern Turkey. Savarona was later converted into a training ship for the Turkish Navy and, in 1978, was destroyed by fire. Because of its historical value, a Turkish businessman spent about $45 million to refurbish it, commissioning Donald Starkey to do the interior and replace the original steam turbines with modern Caterpillar diesel engines. The yacht’s interior was refitted in 2013. The following year the Savarona returned to its role as a presidential superyacht. Savarona has a swimming pool, Turkish bath, a 280-foot grand staircase, a cinema, and a library entirely dedicated to Atatürk.
Jointly delivered by Imperial and Lürssen in 2019, Flying Fox is a superyacht whose exterior design is the work of the “usually well-known” Espen Øino. Imperial has revealed little about Mark Berryman’s interior design, other than the inclusion of a two-story spa occupying approximately 4,306 square feet. Flying Fox is PYC compliant and can accommodate 25 guests.
Designed by Jon Bannenberg, Rising Sun was built by Lürssen for Larry Ellison, CEO of the IT giant, Oracle. The yacht was delivered in 2004 and refitted in 2011. Impressive is its superstructure, propped up with windows. Rising Sun has 8,000 square meters of living space in 82 rooms. It can accommodate 18 guests in nine cabins and has 46 crew members. Seccombe Design’s interiors include a gymnasium, a cinema, and a wine cellar. The rear cockpit deck is designed as a basketball court.
When Lürssen launched Al Salamah in 1999 it was the third largest yacht in the world. The construction project was known as MIPOS, or Mission Possible, and is by Terence Disdale. The large and imposing exterior is primarily a protected space. Al Salamah has cabins for 40 guests, including two master suites, 11 VIP cabins and eight double cabins. The yacht can carry up to 96 crew and has a maximum speed of 22 knots. Al Salamah was last refitted in 2009.
At 140 meters, it is a new entry in the top 15 largest superyachts in the world. Lürssen’s Project Lightning (as it is currently nicknamed) was the biggest launch of 2019. The first sea trials began in the fall and now it is almost ready for delivery. To date, the German shipyard has released very few details. It is known, however, that there are helipads, fore and aft, and a large beach club aft.
This panfilo boasts the title of motor yacht ever built in Italy. Its name is Ocean Victory and it was built by Fincantieri and delivered to its owner in 2014. Espen Øino’s seven-deck exterior includes two helipad platforms and a hangar below deck, large outdoor social areas, and a floodable tender dock. Ocean Victory has cabins for 28 guests and can accommodate up to 56 crew members. Ocean Victory also has six swimming pools, a 3,300-square-meter spa, and an underwater observation room. The interior, by Alberto Pinto, remains a secret.
She looks like a dolphin now, but think about the fact that when she was launched in 1978, she was a Dutch Navy frigate. Sold to the UAE Navy, it was renamed Al Emirat. The yacht underwent its complete transformation to a facility in Abu Dhabi’s main port, being reborn as a superyacht starting in 2011. It was finally delivered in 2015. The design by Paris-based Pierrejean Vision involved massive use of glass. It can accommodate 60 guests and 58 crew members. Yas is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 26 knots.
10. A – 143 m; 9. El Mahroussa – 145.70 m; 8. Prince Abdulaziz – 147 m; 7. A+ Topaz – 147 m; 6. Al Saïd – 155 m; 5. Dilbar – 156 m; 4. Dubai – 162 m; 3. Eclipse – 162.5 m; 2. Fulk Al Salamah – 164 m; 1. Azzam – 180 m
From its portholes one would have witnessed much of the modern history of Egypt, to whose government belongs El Mahroussa, also known as El Horriya – Freedom – after Egypt’s 1952 revolution. It is not just a mega yacht; it is the oldest currently in circulation, used by Egypt’s greatest statesmen from its inception to the present. At 145.70 long, it was built in England by Samuda Brothers in 1865 and has undergone several modifications, including structural changes, over the years, such as two lengthening of the overall hull length and replacement of the motorization. Returned to be in the El Mahrousa in 2000 it currently has 3 Parson 1037-horsepower engines that take it to a maximum of 16 knots, with 13 knots of cruising speed. The interior and exterior design was handled entirely by Oliver Lang.
In the year that the first Mac was launched by Apple, the royal family of Arabia was handed over one of the largest units in nautical history. Her name is Prince Abdulaziz, and from 1984 to 2001 she held the title of the world’s largest yacht, thanks to her 147 meters in length. Owned by King Fahd of Arabia, now part of the Saudi royal fleet, it continues to be frequently used. Built by the Danish shipyard Helsingor Vaerft, it is capable of reaching 22 knots, traveling at an average of 18 thanks to its 2 7800-horsepower Pielstick engines. The interiors were curated by David Kicks, and the second floor features a lobby that is a faithful replica of Titanic’s interior.
Known as Topaz, this superyacht is 147 meters long like Prince Abdulaziz. Coming out of the pen of the great designer Tim Heywood, it is owned by Mansour Ben Zayed Al Nayhan, half-brother of Azzam’s owner Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan and chairman of Manchester City. The vessel has an estimated weight of more than 12 thousand tons, two MTU engines of about 8000 horsepower, and reaches a top speed of 23 knots, cruising at about 19 knots. Its value has been estimated at around 300 and 400 million pounds.
Don’t be fooled by Al Said’s two smokestacks and superstructure: you are not looking at a ferry! The Omani family’s taste for imposing and very “ferry-like” superstructures is also reconfirmed in Fulk Al Salamah’s “little sister,” which at 155 meters is the sixth largest yacht in the world. Also here at the stern is a huge platform for helicopter landing. This yacht, delivered in 2008 by Germany’s Lürssen, at 15,850 tons almost reaches the tonnage of Dilbar, which weighs only 67 tons more. Very large interior volumes, curated by Redman Whiteley Dixon, are one of the hallmarks of Al Said, which is also equipped with two MTU engines of about 11,000 horsepower with which it can develop 22 knots of top speed.
For the fifth position we find the celebrated Dilbar, a mega-yacht owned by another Russian businessman Abramovich and also within a top English soccer club-Arsenal. We are talking about Alisher Usmanov, the Russian-Uzbek “lord of metals,” a top producer with his Metalloinvest. But back to the yacht: Dilbar is 156 meters long, but by tonnage it is the largest in the world at 15917 tons, and not even Azzam can compete with this titan, built by Germany’s Lürssen in 2016. The engine is a 30,000 Kw diesel electric, spinning Dilbar at 23 knots maximum speed and 18 knots cruising speed, a considerable speed considering the weight of this mega yacht.
In fourth position is Dubai, the yacht of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, emir, needless to say, of Dubai. Just 50 centimeters shorter than Eclipse, it was started in 1996 in Germany, in the shipyards of Blohm & Voss in collaboration with Lürssen, for the prince of the Sultanate of Brunei, Jefri Bolkiah. In 2001, the hull arrived in Dubai, where Platinum Yachts, behind which is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was responsible for completing the work, in 2005. The mosaic of stories and people who worked in the 9 years leading up to the launching remains in the history of the yacht, whose interiors, curated by Andrew Winch, are the result of intensive research and refinement of detail with a peculiarity. The leitmotif of the decorations are precisely the mosaics, which are omnipresent on board. With 26 knots of top speed and 25 knots of cruising speed, Dubai is capable of up to 8,000 consecutive miles of range, thanks to four 8450-horsepower MTU engines.
Since it was built in 2010, Eclipse, the mega-yacht of Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich, dominated the ranking of the world’s largest for nearly five years before being dispatched to the bottom step of the podium by Azzam and Fulk Al Salamah. And many will recall that at the time of Azzam’s launch, the headlines focused almost more on Abramovich, ousted from the top position, than on the Abu Dhabi emir’s yacht. The Russian entrepreneur has never hidden his passion for extreme luxury, and Eclipse, from German shipyard Blohm & Voss, fully represents his owner’s style. At 162.50 long, it is decidedly less powerful than its “rival” Azzam, being able to rely “only” on a 10,000-horsepower MTU quad engine that still allows Eclipse to reach the not inconsiderable speed of 25 knots. Anti-missile systems, submersibles, bulletproof glass, and all kinds of other luxuries? Here you go, Eclipse!
From Genoa comes Fulk Al Salamah, the yacht of the Sultan of Oman, Qabus Bin Said. Given the never-ending waiting list in the Lürssen warehouses, the sultan turned to the Italian Mariotti shipyard in 2014 to have what at first glance may look like a giant ferry built. Delivered in 2016, at 164 meters, the Omani royal family’s yacht is the second largest in the world. Although it does not go unnoticed, it is shrouded in mystery regarding its actual motorization. It can reach a top speed of 19 knots with a weight of 11,000 tons. In this giant, the huge helicopter landing pad located on the penultimate aft deck certainly does not go unnoticed.
Leading the ranking as the largest ever pleasure yacht has held out for several years now as Azzam, the 180-meter giant owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family. The builder is the German shipyard Lürssen, “king of luxury” with as many as 4 boats in the world’s 10 largest. There is also some made in Italy for the world’s largest yacht: the exterior design was taken care of by Nauta Yachts. There were no particular limitations in the budget for the construction of Azzam, commissioned by the Emir of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, with a portfolio of around $21 billion. But how much horsepower does it take to move a 180-meter, 13,136-ton giant? Nearly 100,000 – one hundred thousand (!) – horsepower, 94,000 MTU to be precise, with which the large and powerful Azzam easily reaches 30 knots, with a cruising speed around 25. Construction took four years and involved 680 people for an operation with a total value of $600 million.
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