World's biggest yacht competition goes crazy
Chris Hogan, 10th March 2015, Boat
We've reported in the past (see link below) on the unofficial competition between oil sheiks and Russian oligarchs to own the largest yacht in the world. But now one unknown billionaire has decided to really push the boat out, planning to take the top spot for a long time to come.
It's not the fastest moving competition, with these superyachts taking three or four years to build, but eight of the top ten largest yachts were built in the past decade so there's been some slow one-upmanship going on of late.
Recent chart toppers
In 2006 the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched 'Dubai' at 162m long, only to be surpassed a few years later by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's 'Eclipse' - just 1.5m longer. They were both then overtaken by 'Azzam' at 180m, owned by Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE.
It would be churlish to suggest that the only reason that the President of the UAE ordered the world's biggest yacht was to usurp his Vice President. But whatever the reason, someone was watching this battle with interest and decided to make their own play, with a yacht bigger than many cruise ships and intentionally big enough to put anyone off from trying to re-take the crown any time soon.
'Triple Deuce' blows them away
The new yacht, due to be launched in 2018, will measure 222m, over forty metres longer than 'Azzam'. Craig Timm, who brokered the deal to a mystery 'ultra-high net worth individual', said that the project was initially for a 200m yacht but when 'Azzam' launched "that all changed".
He added: "what our client was concerned about is that if we built the yacht to 200m, then someone would come along like Roman Abramovich when he built Eclipse at 163.5m, to barely 'eclipse' Sheikh Maktoum's yacht, the 162-meter Dubai, by only 1.5m. By building the yacht to 222m, he wants to make it difficult, if not impossible, to be 'eclipsed' himself."
Floating town?
'Triple Deuce' will be the most expensive yacht ever built at an estimated cost of more than one billion USD. Running costs are likely to be somewhere between twenty and thirty million USD every year as well.
The yacht will have a master suite occupying the whole of one of the seven decks, spread over two floors with a total footage of 275sqm. That's about the size of a large four-bed house or ten single units in a modern UK shopping centre.
Guest facilities
Four VIP suites and 12 guest suites will cater for visitors who can also use the two pools and many hot tubs. They'll also be able to avail themselves of full-time spa facilities and masseuse and hairdressing services.
Guests will join the 'Triple Deuce' either by helicopter, landing on the heli-pad, or over the water through the yacht's private dock. This will also allow them to use all the water toys the yacht has to offer.
Power
The 'Triple Deuce' won't be slow, with triple gas turbines providing over 100,000hp making a top speed of 30 knots possible. It will use the same type of electric podded propulsion units employed by large liners for steering, rather than rudders.
Beam is expected to be around 30m with a draft just under 5m.
Will it happen?
If this all sounds like a pipe-dream, there's a chance it might just be. The project was first announced back in September and was projected to begin about eighteen months from then. A start date twelve months away is being talked about now, so that's on target.
Presumably the project team are fielding bids from shipyards to build the behemoth, but there is a chance that it will slip quietly away and never be heard of again.
Whether that happens or not, it probably won't be too long before someone else decides a bigger yacht needs to be built anyway.
