megayacht disasters

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Video captures 130-foot superyacht sinking off southern coast of Italy

A superyacht sank off the southern coast of Italy over the weekend of Aug. 20 in a spectacular capsizing captured on video and shared on Twitter by the Italian coast guard.

The video compilation shows the My Saga , a roughly 130-foot boat, struggling against the waves before slowly sinking into the water.

The yacht was sailing from the town of Gallipoli to Milazzo, Sicily, on Aug. 20, local news outlets reported, when it began to take on water and eventually sank some hours later about nine nautical miles off the port of Catanzaro.

All crew members and passengers were rescued and uninjured, the coast guard said on Twitter. It said it launched an investigation to determine what happened.

Nei giorni scorsi, la #GuardiaCostiera di #Crotone ha coordinato operazioni di salvataggio di passeggeri ed equipaggio di uno yacht di 40m, affondato a 9 miglia al largo di #CatanzaroMarina . Avviata inchiesta amministrativa per individuarne le cause. #SAR #AlServizioDegliAltri pic.twitter.com/kezuiivqsM — Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) August 22, 2022

The My Saga first reported a problem on Aug. 20 after setting sail from Gallipoli , on Italy’s southeastern peninsula, according to the country’s National Associated Press Agency (ANSA). Patrol boats from the Italian coast guard in Crotone and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) were dispatched to the scene.

They found the ship taking on water from its stern. Five people — four passengers and a member of the crew — were initially rescued on a Romanian patrol boat acting on behalf of Frontex. They were then transferred to the coast guard boat and taken to Catanzaro.

According to an Italian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation, the My Saga flew a Cayman Islands flag and was owned by a Danish company. The group on board when the boat took on water included six Italian nationals, two Danish citizens and a South African national, the person said.

The owner contracted a towing company to attempt to rescue the ship, according to the official. A tugboat, the Alessandro Second, arrived and took the four remaining crew members — including the captain — onboard before beginning to tow the ship toward Crotone. But bad weather made the process difficult, as did the position of the yacht, which was tilted into the water.

Eventually, the tugboat abandoned the yacht, and it sank into the Gulf of Squillace. The coast guard took the remaining crew members to Catanzaro.

It’s not the first time a sinking yacht has captured attention on the internet. In May, rapper Cardi B posted footage on social media of a yacht sinking near her hotel while she was on vacation in an unknown location. The artist could be heard screaming as she asked whether there wasn’t a “big boat that could save it.” Eventually, she said “bye-bye” as it disappeared into the water. She later clarified that no one was onboard .

I can’t believe I’m actually watching a yacht sink pic.twitter.com/dLL3ZJJv9R — Cardi B (@iamcardib) May 28, 2022

The same month, passersby watched as another multimillion-dollar yacht, the Rendezvous, sank in Torquay Harbor, a marina in southwestern England, after a fire broke out onboard. Authorities warned of potential air and water pollution because the yacht carried about nine metric tons of diesel.

And earlier this month, the 145-foot Aria SF caught fire off the Balearic island of Formentera in Spain in an incident that was also captured on camera and shared widely on social media. Those onboard were evacuated, and no one was hurt, the Guardian reported . The roughly $23 million yacht had reportedly just been delivered to its owner.

Chico Harlan contributed to this report.

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Part I: Five of the biggest yacht disasters of recent years

From 2017 a number of superyacht disasters have kept the headlines in the nautic world news.

From running aground on exotic beaches and hitting rocks to raging fires and powerful storms, we've seen them all. We've gathered five of the most important yacht disasters of 2017 and 2018.

1. M/Y Calamaba runs aground in Sardinia

Calamaba, a 26m Riva Opera 85 belonging to an Italian owner has run aground a few weeks ago on the rocks of Cala Sabina, off the island of Sardegna. Four people were onboard at the time of the incident, but no serious injuries have been reported.

2. M/Y Elsa runs aground in the Caribbean

The 48m superyacht Elsa has run aground in Ladder Bay on the island of Saba in the Caribbean in March 2018.

The classic yacht was built in 2004 by Scheepswerf Peter Sijperda in the Netherlands. She is powered by two Cummins diesel engines of 600 hp each. Top speed is 13 knots. Although the owner worked with the local authorities trying to refloat the yacht, the vessel was scrapped after being declared unsalvageable.

3. M/Y If Only catches fire of the coast of Antibes

The Feadship built yacht caught fire outside Nice. The 39m vessel was built in 1974. At the time of the incident seven guests and four crew members were onboard.

The yacht was less than five nautical miles from the shore and the local firefighters were able to put out the fire. The vessel was outside the airport of Nice when it went ablaze. The firefighters towed the vessel for three nautical miles for the smoke not to interfere with the air traffic.

Despite the efforts of the firefighters, the yacht eventually sank. It was owned by Italian industrial tycoon, Diana Bracco.

Video credit: Dutch Yachting

4. M/Y Limitless consumed by fire in the Caribbean

The 30m Hargrave yacht named Limitless has caught fire near the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean in March 2017. Nobody was hurt, the crew and guests made a safe escape via.

The vessel was built in 2005 and underwent a refit in 2014. She was powered by two Caterpillar C30 diesel engines for a top speed of 20 knots.

5. M/Y Paradise sinks in Mallorca after gale force winds hit the island

The 34m yacht sunk in the Mallorcan marina of Port D'Andratx last year in March. The Custom Line yacht was moored when a force 9 storm hit the Spanish island. The lines snapped and the yacht hit the pontoon with such force that the GRP hull was destroyed. The yacht sunk in the following hours.

Video credit: Mallorca TV

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Superyacht crash video shows 77m Go colliding with Caribbean dock

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Footage has emerged of a 235ft superyacht crashing into a luxury Caribbean yacht club’s pier, causing visible damage to both the yacht and the dock.

Onlookers were shocked last week (February 24) when a 235ft (77m) superyacht collided with the dock of Sint Maarten Yacht Club in the Caribbean.

Video footage of the incident shows the extent of the damage – while the pier took the brunt of it, the superyacht’s steel hull didn’t come off unscathed.

Computer malfunction was to blame for the sickening superyacht crash, according to local publication The Daily Herald , which adds that no-one was injured as a result.

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Video: burning superyacht filmed in us virgin islands.

Footage has emerged of a burning superyacht that caught fire on Tuesday in the US Virgin Islands

The incident took place at around 1015 local time and the newspaper added that an insurer had already been to assess the extent of the damage by the end of the day.

If you think you’re having a bad day at work, spare a thought for the captain and crew who had to explain this situation to their yacht’s owner.

Launched by Turkish yard Turquoise Yachts in 2018, Go features a helipad, gym, jacuzzi, beach club, sauna and hospital as well as a master suite and eight guest cabins styled by London-based studio H2 Yacht Design.

She is run by a crew of up to 18 and her twin 2,575hp Caterpillar 3516C engines give her an estimated top speed of 17 knots.

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‘Megayachts’ are environmentally indefensible. The world must ban them

Roman Abramovich’s yachts are said to emit more carbon than many small countries. This is unsustainable, and wrong

T he rich gazed at their superyachts, and decided they were not enough. The new breed of megayachts, which are at least 70 metres (230ft) in length, may be the most expensive moveable assets ever created.

Roman Abramovich’s custom-designed Eclipse is estimated to be worth upwards of $800m. When he tires of its swimming pool, submarine and armour plating, he can use one of its helipads to fly to the $475m Solaris, which he also owns . On the way he might, perhaps, glimpse the $600m Azzam, commissioned by the former president of the United Arab Emirates.

The luxury boat industry also provides off-the-rack options: Kismet , for instance, can be bought for $184m. Either way, deep pockets are still required: the running costs can exceed 10% of a vessel’s purchase price, every single year.

There is much more at stake in this burgeoning market than these yachts’ purchase prices. Megayachts are an increasing blight on our societies, and the world would be better off without them.

First and foremost, owning a megayacht is the most polluting activity a single person can possibly engage in. Abramovich’s yachts emit more than 22,000 tonnes of carbon every year, which is more than some small countries. Even flying long-haul every day of the year, or air-conditioning a sprawling palace, would not get close to those emissions levels.

The bulk of these emissions happen whether or not a yacht actually travels anywhere. Simply owning one – or indeed building one – is an act of enormous climate vandalism. It helps, of course, that yachts are currently exempt from most of the emissions rules overseen by the International Maritime Organization. That needs to change.

Second, megayachts are a potent symbol of a world corroded by excessive inequality. While millions of people live in food and fuel poverty, billionaires are busy commissioning the most extravagant consumer goods ever created, simply to provide a change of scene away from their mega mansions. The annual costs associated with owning a $400m yacht, for example, would be enough to run a small hospital in the US, or to administer 10m malaria vaccines in Africa.

Bill Gates might gain some plaudits for merely renting, rather than buying, megayachts. But the $2m he is reported to have spent on a week’s rental would be much better devoted to his foundation’s goal of ending tropical diseases.

Third, megayachts protect their owners from public scrutiny – which explains why Tiger Woods called his boat Privacy. Much more seriously, megayachts protect truly unscrupulous owners from the reach of the law. Armed guards and smoked bullet-proof glass are an effective antidote to the prying eyes of law enforcement, and it is hard to act on the suspicion of crimes when a vessel can sail out of a country’s territorial waters at a moment’s notice.

Little surprise, then, that megayachts have been associated with crimes including money laundering, prostitution and illegal drug use. Crew members are required to sign non-disclosure agreements, which prevent them from whistleblowing. This may explain why 80% of them report low morale.

If megayachts are such a problem, what can be done about them? One suggestion is that there should be a heavy tax on large yachts. The proposal has merit, but it has two drawbacks: first, if you can afford to buy a megayacht, you can probably afford to pay the tax on it too. If megayachts are fuelling climate catastrophe, taxing them might not be enough.

Second, the fact that yacht owners can choose which country’s flag to sail under – and can fly a flag of convenience if they choose – means it would be extremely difficult to enforce such a tax.

An alternative would be to simply stop building them. In the case of nuclear weapons, our collective safety has been advanced by nonproliferation treaties, which undermine the spread of missiles and encourage their gradual withdrawal. Some activists, academics and policymakers have argued that the approach should now be applied to fossil fuels, which pose just as grave a threat to our future. A megayacht nonproliferation treaty would see countries agreeing to stop building vessels beyond a specific size.

Any effective approach will also have to target existing yachts, though, and not only new ones. Their outsized carbon footprint means that megayachts are catastrophic contributors to the climate crisis simply by virtue of existing.

One option is to bar megayachts from ports, or even territorial waters. The Italian city of Naples, for instance, has recently banned yachts larger than 75 metres from its harbours. Every megayacht that is decommissioned as a result of this pressure, and every new order that is cancelled, represents a victory for the climate.

If leaders refuse to act, it is clear what is coming next. Just as megayachts arrived to displace superyachts, the world’s billionaires already have their sights on their next prize: the gigayacht.

Chris Armstrong is a professor of political theory at the University of Southampton in the UK and the author of A Blue New Deal: Why We Need a New Politics for the Ocean and the forthcoming Global Justice and the Biodiversity Crisis: Conservation in a World of Inequality

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

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Inside the Florida Blaze That Ravaged Two Megayachts Worth a Collective $20 Million

It's a sad day for superyachts., rachel cormack.

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A pair of multimillion-dollar megayachts were decimated by an unruly blaze over the weekend in what’s being called “the biggest fire loss in Fort Lauderdale history.”

At 4.30 a.m. on Saturday morning, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews were called to the Universal Marine Center after receiving reports that two large yachts were on fire. Over the next five hours, more than 60 firefighters and three fire boats battled the intense blaze, according to a statement by Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue . Fortunately, no one was injured during the fire.

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Chief Stephen Gollan told the Sun-Sentinel that the blaze first sparked on the 161-foot motor yacht Lohengrin , before winds caused it to spread to the nearby 107-foot Reflections . Gollan said Lohengrin —a custom-designed cruiser by Trinity Yachts—is valued at around $12 million, while Reflections is estimated at $6 million to $7 million.

One of the burned megayachts as firefighters work to extinguish the blaze.  Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue

Chief Stephen Gollan told the Sun-Sentinel that the fire first sparked on the 161-foot motor yacht Lohengrin , before winds caused it to spread to the nearby 107-foot Reflections . Gollan said Lohengrin —a custom-designed cruiser by Trinity Yachts—is valued at around $12 million, while Reflections is estimated at $6 million to $7 million.

While the cause of the fire is still unknown, both yachts had been docked next to one another as they underwent general maintenance, painting and renovation work. That arrangement, the battalion says, was less than ideal.

The blaze started in the pre-dawn hours.  Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue

“Anytime boats are packed in a small area, strong winds can move flames from one to another,” Gollan told the Sun-Sentinel. Apparently, he also raised this concern during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show as well.

Authorities will now begin the investigation—scour video surveillance from the marina—to determine if the fire was intentional. We’ll update this story if more information emerges.

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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Breaking news, video captures the moment 160-foot ‘007’ superyacht sinks in greece.

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Sunken but not stirred.

Footage captured the calamitous moment that a massive superyacht named “007” sank — with five passengers inside — in Greece

The maritime disaster occurred Friday night after the 160-foot vessel, which reportedly sails under a British flag but is owned by a Swiss businessman, experienced a GPS malfunction off Kythos Island, SWNS reported. This reportedly prompted the captain to bring it closer to shore than was advisable.

As a result, the James Bond-themed luxury boat hit the rocks, and began taking on water with five passengers inside.

“In trying not to be sunk, he sailed closer to shore, in less than 10 meters depth — and that’s how the ship got to that position,” explained a boat owner who witnessed the catastrophe.

Accompanying footage, uploaded to YouTube, shows the swanky vessel, which sports a helipad, lying half-sunken on its side around 50 feet from the nearby Kolona Beach.

Thankfully, all five passengers were rescued and transported to safety before the “007” sank. “No people were hurt,” described the aforementioned eyewitness. “The coastguard was immediately aware and sent help in the night.”

Rescuers also erected an anti-pollution perimeter in the area, although there was reportedly “no diesel leakage or damage to the scenery,” the bystander said.

Local authorities will launch a probe into the sinking of the “007,” which was delivered in 2006 by the Bodrum-based shipyard Aegean Yacht, but whose owner remains unknown.

Along with a helipad, the superyacht reportedly boasts five cabins, including a master suite, and can reportedly sleep ten people.

This isn’t the first time a luxury vessel has visited Davy Jones’ locker of late. Last month, heart-pounding footage emerged of a 130-foot superyacht capsizing and sinking stern-first into the water off the Italian coast.

In February, a Ukrainian man was arrested for partially sinking his Russian tycoon boss’s $7.7 million luxury super yacht in Spain in protest over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Billionaire Lorenzo Fertitta cruised into town last week on his 285-foot mega-yacht the Lonian . The ship is reportedly outfitted with a swimming pool and an elevator to access all five decks. Apparently, this extravagance is not enough to serve Fertitta’s needs, as the ship is also traveling with a companion vessel, the 216-foot Hodor , which exists simply to carry his helicopter, extra boats, jet skis, cars, and probably other toys. These yachts are a slap in the face to everyone in the Santa Barbara community who has driven an electric car, everyone who has installed solar panels on their roof, and everyone who suffered at the hands of a raging wildfire.

While information about the fuel consumption of these ships is not publicly available, it is undoubtedly huge. According to the website EcoWatch, mega-yachts emit approximately 7,020 tons of CO2 per year. The average U.S. citizen has a CO2 footprint of 16 tons, and the global average is about 5 tons per person. Meanwhile, the average billionaire contributes 8,190 tons of CO2 to the atmosphere every year. For the highest-emitting billionaires, mega-yachts are responsible for the majority of their emissions. The fuel tank of the Lonian reportedly holds 160,000 liters of diesel fuel. Each ship likely consumes hundreds of liters of fuel every minute.

According to the most recent IPCC report , human emissions of CO2 have already warmed the planet by about 1.1°C, and warming will continue unless we quickly reduce emissions. In Santa Barbara, the changing climate will lead to more frequent droughts, higher vulnerability to catastrophic wildfires, and sea-level rise that will cause flooding and erosion along the coast. Many members of the Santa Barbara community and surrounding communities have already experienced the effects of the climate crisis first-hand, as fires have burned homes and taken lives. The urgency of this moment is palpable — we must take immediate steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Our local government and activist organizations should take a stand against these mega-yachts. While our ability to affect climate policy may be limited to the Santa Barbara region, we should encourage our elected officials to use the power at their disposal to discourage these obscene emitters from using our harbor. Our community has a history of leading on environmental issues, starting the tradition of Earth Day , and more recently saving the San Marcos Foothills from development. The City of Santa Barbara has already adopted a climate action plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. We can continue our efforts to protect our planet and our livelihood by taking action to keep these mega-yachts out of our local waters.

Taking a stand against mega-yachts will not only decrease emissions in our own local waters — it will also draw attention the larger issue of emissions by the super-rich. If we can work to ban excessive high-emission luxury yachts from our harbor, this can set an example for other cities around the world. Billionaires have a disproportionate contribution to climate change, but they also have disproportionate ability to contribute to solutions. We should use both government policy and activism to call out their shameless behavior, to push them to stop contributing to the problem of climate change. If they continue to emit recklessly, we should not welcome them in our harbor.

In many ways, the work of cutting CO2 emissions will require difficult decisions and sensitive policy. But there is nothing difficult or sensitive about mega-yachts. The emissions caused by these yachts are downright criminal. I am calling on our local leaders to craft policy to ban the activity of these mega-yachts in our local waters.

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The megayacht “Domani” by Benetti in trouble: rescued by the American Coast Guard

“domani” a 45-metre megayacht built by benetti in 2004, was in trouble off the coast of grays harbor, washington state, after a mechanical failure. the video.

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Topics: American Coast Guard , benetti , Domani

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The world’s biggest yachts – what’s behind the growth of the gigayacht

• Helen Fretter
• March 14, 2017

The last few years have seen launches of some of the world's largest yachts, truly gigayachts. Helen Fretter delves into the world of the gigayacht

Dwarfing not only any other yacht that happened to be on the River Eider, but even the buildings along the foreshore, the monolithic Sailing Yacht A made quite an impression when she was launched from the Nobriskrug yard in Hamburg in the autumn of 2016.

The 142m, eight-deck behemoth is the archetypal ‘gigayacht’, phenomenal not just in her dimensions but also in her radicalism.

The Philippe Starck-designed Sailing Yacht A , with her 20m freeboard, begs the question: is she even a sailing yacht? The last yacht to divide opinion, and attract the shock and awe of the non-sailing public in the same manner was Maltese Falcon , the glossy, experimental megayacht designed for Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tom Perkins.

But the Falcon was launched a decade ago, and Sailing Yacht A is just one of a crop of extraordinary gigayachts, or sailing superyachts of 80, 90 or 100m plus, to touch the water in 2016.

Besides the 142m Sailing Yacht A , another three-masted design was launched from OceanCo this autumn, the 106m  Black Pearl , which looks set to become the largest sailing yacht in the world – for a while at least. Black Pearl represents a modern evolution of the rotating Dynarig pioneered by Maltese Falcon . Meanwhile in the spring, the largest Bermudan rigged yacht ever launched, the 86m ketch Aquijo , powered through sail trials in preparation for a global adventure.

There are more in the pipeline also. Royal Huisman announced this autumn that they had been commissioned to design and build the 86m Project 400 , another three masted design, this one more conventionally rigged. A proposal for the 114m Endurance has just been unveiled, an explorer concept designed to be able to cruise unassisted for three months. There is also the 86m Komorebi , an experimental wingsail-assisted hybrid trimaran design from the French multihull experts VPLP.

Rise and rise of the gigayacht

Why the sudden flurry of these stratospherically ambitious projects? In truth, it is not that sudden – initial pitches for what ultimately became Sailing Yacht A were invited back in 2008, and pre-studies began in 2011. A decade between projects seems rather shorter when design and build takes at least five years – gigayacht owners may be exacting, but they also have to be extraordinarily patient.

The 141m four-masted Dream Symphony is currently in build out of wood in Turkey, and includes vast living accommodation, and a swimming pool that converts to become a helipad platform.

What is remarkable, though, is how rapidly the yachts have grown in size – raising the upper ceiling from 88 to over 140m in a decade. Dutch naval architecture firm Dykstra has been instrumental in many of the world’s most innovative megayachts, including Sailing Yacht A , Black Pearl , and Maltese Falcon .

Managing director Thys Nikkels comments, “Ten years ago a big boat was a very different size than a big boat is now. I can still remember when I started working in ’91 a 40-metre yacht in those days was a big boat. In the mid-90s we started to design the yacht Athena , which we thought was the biggest boat we were ever going to see in our lives, as a sailing yacht she was 80 metres on the water.”

The largest single sloop rigged yacht in the world remains Mirabella V , launched back in 2003 and since renamed (and slightly lengthened during a refit) M5 at just over 77m. Rob Doyle, who worked on the project led by Ron Holland, recalls:

“We started designing her 17 years ago now. We hit a very natural sweet spot with Mirabella and that’s why it has taken so long for other boats to suddenly go over her length and over her rig height.

“ Mirabella still has the highest ‘P’ measurement [distance from boom to top of mast] and the longest boom in the world, though there are taller masts now.

“She set a bar and we didn’t realise we’d actually set it. It came down to a ratio of the rig weight to the draught and the keel weights, and everything else to be able to carry that amount of sail and that ballast to satisfy the rules.

“We pushed technology a lot – about 16 companies went bust over Mirabella  because the jump was so massive. We were jumping from a 64m to a 75m [yacht] and that jump was like learning to fly, then going to the moon!”

Article continues below

Video of Sailing Yacht A, the world’s largest sail-assisted vessel, during early sea trials

This video footage of Sailing Yacht A shows her with her towering free-standing masts and illustrates the jaw-dropping scale of the world’s…

A look on board the extraordinary 86m Aquijo, the world’s largest ketch

The largest Bermudan rigged ketch ever launched, the 86m Aquijo was designed by Bill Tripp and launched last year. The build came…

Ken Freivokh, who was responsible for the radical styling of Maltese Falcon , also points out that after the much publicised launch of the Falcon many buyers did not want to be seen to be emulating Tom Perkins’s unique style, preferring to wait, or opt for a conservative design. After the Falcon , Freivokh’s next radical Dynarig yacht was Black Pearl , which he began work on six years ago. At 106m Black Pearl dwarfs Maltese Falcon , with a 2,700GT volume that puts her just under the key 3,000GT limit.

Surprisingly, Dykstra’s Thys Nikkels says that the Dynarigs being built today are not markedly different to the one developed for Maltese Falcon a decade ago. “In concept it is not very different. In detail there are a number of improvements that have been made.

But Maltese Falcon was – for her time – years far ahead and she proved to be very successful in sail handling and sailing, so there are not many improvements to be done. Nowadays you just have different materials you can use, or different electronics and software systems that you can use for control.”

Maltese Falcon, launched in 2006, pioneered the Dynarig concept utilised on many of the next generation of larger gigayachts.

Sail handling

Meanwhile a decade of development in superyacht rigs and sail systems, means that Aquijo ’s owner could opt for a conventional ketch rig, which can deploy over 3,000m2 of sails in around six minutes.

Sail handling routines are necessarily different – the jib is furled when tacking. “Vitters organised a nice system that keeps just a nice amount of tension on the jib sheets furling in and out so that they are not flailing about,” explains Aquijo ’s designer, Bill Tripp. “So it’s not a dinghy tack, but it is safe and orderly.

“The spinnaker is on a fast furler and furls up in 30 seconds, making gybes less complex. There is the ketch choreography of bringing the main and mizzen in, but the steering is precise and there is no need to put too much sail up for the conditions.”

Aquijo master cabin

The forces generated on yachts such as Aquijo may be enormous – mast compression can reach around 580 tons – but are no longer beyond the realms of riggers’ experience. “When we started building boats like Saudade [the 2009 45m Wally], 14 tonnes was a very big load. Once we understood racing these boats, and understood they were controllable, you can take another step.

“We were delighted when sailing Aquijo upwind in a lot of breeze that the load on the mainsheet was showing around 12 tonnes. It’s 2:1 so that’s 24 tonnes. I’m not saying that’s not a massive load, but it’s similar to what we have on Saudade ’s big sheet 1:1, and we have years of experience with handling that.” Custom built 40 ton carbon and alloy winches help manage the sheet loads.

Tripp notes that a Dynarig was never considered as an option. “What you’re really asking is do you want the ease of sailing or do you want to be able to access something exciting? And we wanted both of them.

“Sailors tend to like the more fundamental experiences, and when the technology allows them to access those more fundamental experiences, well that’s a great joy.”

Aquijo is the world’s largest ketch, with a mainsail that can be furled or unfurled in around four seconds

Finding the limit

Just how big can a sailing yacht go? Five years ago plans were unveiled for a 101m sloop, with a single 125m carbon mast, which raised a few eyebrows and discussions over whether it might be possible. Malcolm McKeon worked on the proposal and says that it was the cost, rather than technical limitations, which put the brakes on the project.

“It was an evolving process. The owner has a 50m-plus sailing superyacht, and he wanted a new yacht big enough that he could put a reasonably sized chase boat on board. He wanted an explorer type sailboat that he could go to the Pacific on, and carry all his toys with him, and not have to have a support boat.

“The design started at 65 or 70m and it just grew and grew and grew until it got to 100m, and then it basically just got too expensive.

Recent sail trials on Sailing Yacht A saw the 1,464m2 mainsail unfurled from the 27.5m carbon U-shaped boom. Incredibly she is designed to heel up to a maximum angle of 12 degrees under full sail.

“The big problem with the large sail boats is the mast price goes up by a bigger proportion to everything else so the rig price becomes a much bigger percentage of the overall build. Technically it can all be done, it’s just the value of that part becomes a much more significant part and sometimes more difficult for an owner to accept.

“If somebody came to me and said they wanted to build a boat with a 200m mast I would think well, is that really possible? Certainly rigs up to 100m and a bit more I think are possible today, but where we’re going to go after that I don’t know.”

Rob Doyle points out that sailing superyacht owners pay around a 30 per cent premium over opting for a motoryacht, yet the boats lose around a third of the equivalent interior volume. However, for him the biggest limitations are the humans onboard.

“I think we are coming to a stage where we need a new type of rig, to be honest, to be able to safely deploy these sails without killing people. I think we are getting very close to where the metal meets the flesh at the deck level where the people and the guests are hanging around.”

With the ever-increasing winch and line speeds needed to handle the huge loads, serious hand and limb injuries can happen in the blink of an eye. “There is a moral hazard there that keeps playing on my mind,” says Doyle. “We are building very dangerous machines and we have to be very careful of people.”

The newly announced Endurance concept design is a 114m four-masted explorer design with a 6,000 mile range under power.

More prosaically, the bigger your gigayacht, the bigger the challenge of just getting on and off it. “Once you are getting to a stage where you can’t get into anchorages you are in constant fear of drifting – even putting down an anchor you need a huge amount of space around you.

“So then you anchor further out into the slop and the big waves, so the owners find it difficult to get on and off the boat, and suddenly other problems can overwhelm the project,” Doyle points out. One increasingly popular solution to that particular problem is a luxury landing craft.

Too big for the Panama Canal

It might seem counter-intuitive, but it is Aquijo ’s owner’s focus on the sailing experience that has enabled the designers of the 86m ketch to push the size limits of a traditionally rigged yacht.

“ Aquijo is a sophisticated machine and brings most aspects of a 1,600GT motor yacht with her,” comments designer Bill Tripp. “But she does not aspire to helicopters or submarines, the feeling of the boat is one of use. She is for getting out there, and for going out sailing. In Greece this summer, she would go out for an afternoon of sailing in 35 knot Meltemi because it is so much fun to sail at 20 knots, as if on rails.

“We have always done sailboats that can get under the Panama Canal bridge, and the biggest we were happy to do and put under the bridge was really 46m because after that we didn’t have big enough sails for the boat.

“Then five years ago we launched A Better Place , and the owner said ‘I’ll go around, I don’t want to limit my boat because of the bridges.’ With Aquijo they said, we want to go to these places anyway, so let’s get the best sailboat we can. So suddenly, instead of having this 63m limit on the rig, that all opened up and we could start doing a sailing boat that had a gross tonnage like some of the bigger motoryachts.

“I think we’re going to see more of that. You can look at the Strait of Magellan [an alternative route to rounding Cape Horn ], as a place that’s a really long way away or a place you really want to go.”

The three-masted Black Pearl  has an angular ‘Pacman’ bow with a wave-piercing reverse sheer lower section, and extended traditional foredeck above

The wish list

Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko is keeping his Sailing Yacht A tightly wrapped under non-disclosure agreements, but a few intriguing details have been released, including magnifying windows which appear larger inside than outside, and a gimballed crow’s nest, accessible by lift, 60m high in the curved mast.

An observation pod embedded in the keel with foot-thick glass gives a mesmerising – and frankly terrifying-sounding – view of the propellers, and there’s a three-man submarine.

Gigayacht designers have come up with some imaginative solutions to meet owners’ foibles and demands. Drawings for the 101m sloop incorporated an entirely retractable hardtop to the flybridge to give the owner his requested uninterrupted view of the sails and sky.

Plans for the Japanese-influenced Komorebi design feature a live tree on the aft deck. Watersports toys are old news – now tender garages are specified to house motorbikes, amphibious quad bikes, even custom-built marinised supercars.

On Aquijo , the headline feature is the ‘beach club’ on the lower deck. “For a sailing boat it is a huge area, they have a sauna, hamman [Turkish Bath], a rainfall shower, a relaxing area, this huge whirlpool in the middle, a little pantry, and enough space for gym equipment around the pool,” explains interior designer Robert Voges.

Beach club on Aquijo.

Voges says the trickiest element on the yacht was the flawless high shine steel mast claddings which run through the interior. “It is like a piece of art. The mast was going through the main saloon and guest corridor, and we didn’t want to hide it. So we decided to make a feature out of it with seamless stainless steel cladding with integrated LED strip lights from top to bottom over two decks.”

One of the most radical projects in progress is the 141m Dream Symphony , a four-masted design currently in build in Turkey. Originally slated for launch this year, the project is progressing slowly – in part due to the fact the yacht is constructed of wood. Her design includes a large aft deck swimming pool that transforms into a raised helipad area.

This is the type of concept which seemed fantastical just a few years ago, but is now reality in the motoryachts world where designs like the 81m Alfa Nero have deployed it successfully.

“It’s a good solution because you usually have to drop down all the stanchions and any elements that are higher than the helipad itself, whereas if you lift the helipad you don’t have to lower the other elements,” explains Dream Symphony designer Ken Freivokh.

The 141m four-masted Dream Symphony

“The brief did not call for a resident helicopter that would have its own hanger – it’s just a ‘touch and go’. You don’t want to set aside space for a helicopter permanently that’s almost never there, so if you have a reasonably sized swimming pool why not use the base of a pool to just receive the helicopter, and then once the helicopter flies away you can put it back to normal operations?” Why not indeed?

No matter how grandiose your ideas, however, not even the vast volumes of a gigayacht can be entirely filled with art galleries and Reiki studios. Robert Voges explains that, like any other ship, “We have to start with all the emergency exits, the corridors, staircases . . . and from there we can work with the other areas which are left over.”

Ken Freivokh estimates that at least 20 per cent of the interior space has to be allocated to the back-of-house systems required to maintain the equivalent of a small hotel – air conditioning, waste, media, and other unglamorous elements behind the touch-screen luxury.

Edge of reason

At 12,700 GT, Sailing Yacht A has the vastest volume of all. But can she be called a sailing yacht? She carries three of the world’s largest carbon rigs – curved, unstayed, capable of rotating a maximum of 70 degrees – featuring in-boom furling that can deploy 3,747 square metres of sail area (67 per cent more than Maltese Falcon ) from a finger tip command. And yet she cannot help but look implausible.

The hull has a maximum beam of 24.8m and includes 24 shell doors.

No matter how innovative the technology on board, or how vast the expense, the elements will not bend to the will of man or millionaire. Various estimates have put her cost at $400-500million, or in the region of £320 to £400 million – to put those sort of figures in context, the bill for the London Olympics Aquatics centre came in at under £300m.

Sailing Yacht A will be ‘sail-assisted’, not wind-powered. Confounding, aggressive in her styling, she’s a yacht that has attracted scathing opinions as often as wide-eyed wonder. But what is the point of creating a gigayacht that doesn’t?

“It is a creative process with the owner,” comments Aquijo ’s designer Bill Tripp, “They have this idea that they can make something that speaks to them. They don’t write symphonies, and they’re not great painters or sculptors, but on the other hand money is vital energy, and they can create these things that wouldn’t exist otherwise.

“It’s great when someone says, ‘Life’s short, I’m just going to do this.’”

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kc135delta Member

I saw this m/y on another thread here and it peaked my curiosity. Very narrow beam, apparently extended a couple times and then it sank off the coast of france. Does anyone know where she was built? Specs? Engines? Any sister ships? And why did she sink?

Norseman Senior Member

And why did she sink? Click to expand...

captholli Senior Member

Built in Holland in one of the founding federation of ship builders that finally became the modern day two Feadship yards of Van Lent and DeVries. Believe she was launched as CoCo Chanel (not sure) than named Jan Pamela and "Jumbolized" or a mid section of 30' fabricated @ Merrill Stevens and installed in 1982. Sank while making passage from Naples to Sardinia as the loss has been well documented.

NYCAP123 Senior Member

Back at the time of her sinking I'd heard that a forward hatch blew open in rough seas and it was a done deal from there. They tried to jettison the toys to regain stability, but it was too little, too late.

K1W1 Senior Member

Hi, The Skipper of it when it sank is a well known and active character within the industry to this very day. I found this on another site. Nadine's sinking was indeed caused by the violent waves. A foredeck hatch was smashed, allowing water to flood the crew quarters and bringing the yacht down by the bow. This allowed more waves to break over the fordeck and they caused one of the large tenders carried there to shift, breaking one of the dining salon windows that overlooked the foredeck, which causing flooding on the maindeck. As if that wasn't bad enough, the violent motion of the yacht caused the swim platform to rip off the hull, allowing the lazarette to flood.

Ahh, now its coming back to me, The first lengthening was the 12' cockpit addition @ Merrill Stevens in 1980 the original machinery in place when launched was Detroit Diesel 12-71 naturals for mains and 6-71 gens. Mains replaced in 1991 with Cat 3412 and Gens replaced with N.L. -This work was also done by Merrill Stevens in Miami.

captholli said: Mains replaced in 1991 with Cat 3412 and Gens replaced with N.L. -This work was also done by Merrill Stevens in Miami. Click to expand...

C4ENG Senior Member

But then not to long after the Nadine sinking, Mr. Little hired that Capt to run Starship. Proved to be a good idea because that captain did an excellent job marketing the vessel for charter. I then felt fortunate enough to be there when Mr. Little did has last boat ride before departing for the big boat in the sky. We went to Freeport Bahamas Port Luycaya. The unique thing was, on that trip I never seen him happier.

Hi, Uncle Bernie as we used to call him was an outstanding Owner and one heck of a gentleman to work for or be associated with.

I was the Engineer from '80 to '84 when Mel Powers out of Dallas owned her as Jan Pamela and Norm Dahl was Capt. So I have first hand knowledge of what, when and where the cockpit and and mid section were added right down to a young Kiwi, Paul Solenicks contracted to provide the electrical work through his newly formed Co. Tess Marine. After Mel filed chapter 13 the boat went up for auction and the Whole crew went on to Empress Subaru.

nas130 Member

The autobiography "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street" both have some information about the sinking of the Nadine. The movie "Boiler Room" was allegedly the story of Nadines owner’s business on Long Island. I think the book about megayacht disasters also has some interviews with the captain and crew that were taken after sinking.

Hi, Captholli- Would your first name be Mark by any chance?

No, But enjoying the anonymity as you do "Kiwi" Cheers!

Hi, I asked because in 1984 I met a guy who was Chief on Empress Subaru and I thought his name was Mark Hollingsworth. He also got speared in the foot with a dart at a party I was at. By the way Paul Salenieks expanded his co - Tess Electrical Marine and sold it out to a multi national.

Neil Rooney Senior Member

Seawind with Allison C-18 I have been a passenger in that Seawind a few times. She was powered by an Allison C-18 Turbine with a cut down 3 blade prop. Quite a fast plane. The plane was in the USA when Nadine went down. Do read the account in "The Wolf OF Wall Street".

Benprez New Member

this boat was once owned by Jordan Belfort the wolf of wall street it sunk watch the youtube story jordan belfort yacht story

Hi, It had a few more interesting Owners as well. The late great Bernie Little and the infamous Mel Powers to name just two.

CaptTom Senior Member

Benprez said: ↑ this boat was once owned by Jordan Belfort the wolf of wall street it sunk watch the youtube story jordan belfort yacht story Click to expand...

stgeorge123 New Member

MY Nadine With the new movie 'The Wolf of Wall Strret' about to come out, I relooked at this thread and discovered it has never been clearly answered. The 'Nadine' was originally built at Niklaas Vitsen und vis in Aalkmar Holland circa 1962 for a wealthy French industrialist - she was floated as 'Mathilda' and retained this name until May 1977 when she was renamed Coco Chanel and crossed over to the US. She was originally fitted with GM Diesels and Mercedes gensets.The next time she was over in the Med, if my memory serves me right was in 1988 at the Cannes Film Festival, on charter having come across on Dock Express. Jordan Belfort was onboard with guests and full crew when she sadly sank off Corsica (all rescued fortunately) - theories and way she sank are numerous and probably mostly inaccurate, but I believe her length, by now 53 metres instead of the 40 metres she was originally built at, contributed. However, having sailed on this vessel as Ch.Off from 1970 - 1977, she should never have set sail in the weather conditions that day, which eventually were worse than forecast - whatever the Owner said!!

Hi, Mel Powers owned it when it was stretched by Merril Stevens in Miami. It lurked around the area for a few years and the late Bernie Little expressed an interest in it when it was called Jan or Jam Pamela and was laying at Merril Stevens in 1988. I was working for BLL on something else and was asked to go take a look. I next saw it when I was in Astilleros in Palma in the summer of 1989. Follwing this it was acquired by BLL and I worked on the refit when it was repowered with CAT 3412's and CAT Gensets in late 1992. The rest as they say is history - there are varying accounts of many historical events so this fits well.

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The 20 biggest superyachts under construction

Take a peek inside the sheds as we shine a light on the largest superyachts currently under construction, starting with a unique explorer project and followed by a quartet of Lürssens...

REV Ocean | 194.4m

With a new length of 194.4 metres, REV Ocean remains the largest yacht in build anywhere in the world. Construction on the goliath vessel was briefly halted, but happily, in 2023, we got the news that the build had picked back up at Vard's facility in Norway. The mission-based REV Ocean will be a research vessel-superyacht hybrid designed to traverse the globe undertaking crucial studies and visiting the furthest corners of our planet.

Luminance | 145m

Project Luminance is a powerful-looking Lürssen with a classic raked bow and a high, brooding superstructure. Her two-tone exterior in navy blue and silver features two helipads and a large infinity pool and is the work of Espen Øino , marking the 30th collaboration between the designer and the shipyard. Interior design is the work of Francois Zuretti but details remain a closely guarded secret. She was last seen on sea trials in April.

Project Ali Baba | 142m

Another enormous Lürssen project is Project Ali Baba . After leaving the construction shed in two halves in May 2022, she was officially launched in December 2023. The launch comes after the yacht was prematurely revealed when a technical failure of the dock gate at the yard's Bremen facilities forced the yacht's nose into the dock curtain. Aside from the first image showing a grey profile with an elongated bow and bold exterior lines, including two helipads, the remaining details have been kept under wraps.

Project Deep Blue | 130m

While no official specifications have been released by Lürssen, Project Deep Blue is estimated to measure around 130 metres. The semi-complete hull was seen to be preparing to leave the shipbuilder's Lemwerder site in July, where she will move to Lürssen's Bremen facility for the next stage of construction. Here the bow segment will be attached ahead of her expected delivery date in 2025.

Project JAG | 122m

Commissioned by a repeat client as a replacement for his 96-metre superyacht, Project JAG is the owner's third Lürssen. Nuvolari Lenard has given this big vessel a futuristic, winged mast structure and a long pointed bow with what looks like a kind of bowsprit walkway. She can accommodate 20 guests in 11 cabins, with berths for 40 crew (that's two crew to each guest). She was seen for the first time in her full form in August 2023. Since splashing, she was last seen in October 2023, heading out to sea trails sailing down the Kiel Canal in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Amels 120 Full Custom | 120m

Announced as a new evolution of the Amels Limited Editions line, the 120-metre in-build Amels superyacht is designed by   Espen Øino and marks the second custom collaboration between the studio and the Dutch shipyard. Described as a “unique and powerful” vessel, the project is set to be a "green, ecological superyacht" with diesel-electric engines and Azipod propulsion with superlative noise and vibration management.  The yacht is currently the largest project in build in the Netherlands and was last seen arriving at the Damen Yachting facility in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, to begin outfitting. Delivery is slated for 2025 when it is expected to be the largest Dutch-built motor yacht in the world.

Abeking 6514 | 120m

In October 2021, German shipyard Abeking & Rasmussen announced it had signed a contract to build a 120m+ superyacht . The Abeking 6514 will be the largest project undertaken by the shipyard since the commissioning of 118-metre Project 6507, now better known as Liva O .

Feadship 821 | 118.8m

Feadship's future flagship was spotted for the first time as she was floated out of her construction shed in April 2022 . The project, known as Feadship 821 , is said to be the largest yacht built by the Dutch shipyard to date, usurping the 110-metre Anna and, to our understanding, topping the recently launched Project 1010 . Project 821 is due for completion in 2024.

Project 1010 | 118.8m

The 4,999GT Project 1010 marks a significant milestone for Feadship. The design comes from the pen of the redoubtable Espen Øino, whose fluid lines are interrupted by an unusual pair of “eyebrows” amidships. Otherwise, Project 1010 displays a dark blue hull, a heavily raked white superstructure and a unique observation lounge “bubble” deck with curved floor-to-ceiling glass, tucked just under the mast.

Project Cosmos | 114m

Project Cosmos is yet another mega-build by German shipyard Lürssen and was glimpsed for the first time in March 2023.  The fuel cell-powered vessel was commissioned by a Japanese owner in 2020 and features an explorer-style profile with a glass observation lounge, swimming pool and an unusually large tender bay. Her exterior is the work of Australian designer Marc Newson, whose portfolio includes the 139.7-metre Solaris . She was last seen in transit from the yard’s facility in Rendsburg en route to begin outfitting in August 2023, with delivery expected in 2025.

Dorries 156 | 113.5m

In August 2022, it was reported that Dörries Yachts had signed a contract for the construction of a 100-metre-plus superyacht for an American tech mogul.

Oceanco Y722 | 111m

The 111-metre Oceanco Project Y722 was first glimpsed in June 2022 as she left the construction shed and was shipped to Alblasserdam site to begin outfitting. The project is expected to sit around the 5,000GT mark, which would put her as the largest yacht by volume to be built by Oceanco. 

Oceanco Y726 | 111m

Joining Project Y722 is another 111-metre Oceanco, Project Y726. The project moved to outfitting in December 2023, arriving at the Alblasserdam facility in an unconventional graffiti-style wrap designed by Rotterdam-based graffiti artist I AM EELCO. Interior details helmed by   Mark Berryman are understood to be "refined",  with little else being known.

Project Icecap | 107m

When she was revealed last summer at Lürssen’s Peene-Werft naval yard, it was clear that Project Icecap was shaping up to be a very capable explorer yacht. With an axe-style bow and the superstructure well forward, the yacht should punch safely through big seas, while offering big cargo-carrying capacity on the open aft deck. Owner’s rep Moran Yacht & Ship described the boat as diesel-electric powered. An ice-classed hull, heli-hangar and forward observation lounge are also on the spec sheet. 

Freire NB729 | 105m

Little is known about the 105-metre explorer under construction at the Freire Shipyard . It is understood that the yacht has been penned by Bannenberg & Rowell Design i nside and out. The contract was signed in July 2021 with the Spanish yard but no further details have been released. She is expected to be delivered in 2024.

Project JASSJ | 103m

Lürssen revealed the first details of the 103-metre Project JASSJ at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2021. Designed inside and out by RWD , Project JASSJ features accommodation for a total of 22 guests in 11 cabins, with an “industry-leading” beach club aft. Moran Yacht & Ship negotiated the contract and will supervise the build. She was last spotted emerging from the shed of the Rendsburg facility while being technically launched, in the same week that Project Ali Baba also emerged. The yacht shrouded in secrecy is scheduled for delivery in 2025.

Ulysses | 103m

The third Feadship to make this line-up of the biggest yachts under construction is the 103-metre project, christened Ulysses , with expected delivery in 2024. The yacht, last spotted on sea trials in November 2023, has been penned inside and out by Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design , making this the 10th collaboration between the designer and yard. Feadship has said that the yacht’s modern profile used 1,100 square metres of exterior glass and will feature a single-deck engine room. Ulysses will follow in the footsteps of famous yachts under the same name, including two Kleven-built explorers. Once delivered, Damen Yachting’s U-81 will serve as her support vessel. 

Project Jash | 100m+

Turkish shipyard AKYACHT has signed a contract for the build of a 100-metre-plus superyacht, with delivery scheduled for 2027. It is set to be the largest superyacht built on Turkish soil and the biggest undertaking by the shipyard, succeeding the shipyard's flagship project – the award-winning 85-metre Victorious. 

Feadship 824 | 98m

The latest significant milestone in Feadship’s Project 824 is the joining of the hull and superstructure in September 2023. The yacht is now at the yard’s Kaag base, after moving out of the NMC facility, and will undergo outfitting. The yacht’s plumb bow, low profile and contemporary curves draw similiaries to Feadships Pi and Najiba . So far, little has been revealed about this project, but according to BOATPro data she is expected to splash in 2025.

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The superyacht world is speculating that Mark Zuckerberg just bought this 118-meter boat

• The 118-meter superyacht Launchpad made her maiden voyage last week.
• The yacht world is speculating that her owner is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
• Here's what we know about the luxury vessel.

In the world of superyachts , privacy is the most valuable asset. It can be next to impossible to discern the details of a superyacht transaction — and that's particularly true if the vessel in question is worth nine figures.

Yet some in the boat blogging world are speculating that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the new owner of Launchpad, a megayacht currently moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after she made her maiden voyage from Gibraltar to St Maarten last week. Launchpad clocks in at 118 meters long, about nine meters shorter than Jeff Bezos' superyacht Koru .

The transaction could not be confirmed, with yacht world insiders declining to share what they know and representatives for Zuckerberg not responding to a request for comment from Business Insider. In the past, reports about Zuckerberg owning superyacht Ulysses have proven false.

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"It is Feadship's standard policy to never divulge any information about our yachts with reference to ownership, costs, or delivery, etc," Feadship, the ship's builder, wrote to BI. "Whether it is an 18-meter Feadship from the 1960s or a 118-meter Feadship from the 21st century, we do not share private information."

But Zuckerberg's name has been connected to Launchpad for a few months now, beginning in December when reports swirled that he visited Feadship's shipyard in the Netherlands.

Then, earlier in March, yachting bloggers like eSysman SuperYachts and Autoevolution started speculating that he officially snagged the boat, originally built for a sanctioned Russian businessman, at a $300 million price tag. (While that's a seemingly huge amount, it's still less than 0.2% of Zuckerberg's $177 billion net worth.)

Another clue that might point to US ownership is that the yacht bears the flag of the Marshall Islands, a US territory and commonplace for American buyers to register their ships, according to public marine tracking.

If Zuckerberg were to have bought Launchpad, he would join a cohort of superyacht-owning tech billionaires . Along with Bezos, the likes of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison and Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have purchased impressive boats with even more impressive amenities.

SuperYacht Times , an industry publication and intelligence platform, has some of the best images of the yacht. Photos show a swimming pool on her main deck and a large helipad.

While less is known of the interior, a vessel of her size can likely sleep dozens of guests and crew and may have amenities like an expansive gym where Zuckerberg could practice his jiu-jitsu or a spa with a massage area. We suspect there's also space for plenty of toys — which could include his viral hydrofoil foil .

Do you have any details about Launchpad or any other superyachts? Email reporter Madeline Berg at [email protected].

Watch: Walmart heiress' superyacht vandalized by activists in Ibiza

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All aboard S.S. Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly gifted himself a $300 million megayacht, dubbed “Launchpad,” ahead of his 40th birthday.

The staggering 387-foot-long vessel was seen floating at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after arriving at its berth earlier this week, The Sun reported Thursday.

The multi-layered luxury ship’s sleek exterior was designed by Espen Øino International and boasts a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure, according to SuperYacht Times.

Reportedly ranking as the 45th largest yacht in the world, the interiors are just as aesthetically pleasing and reportedly executed by Zuretti Interior Design company, a France-based company specializing in unique and custom yacht design.

The breathtakingly beautiful floater stands out with a navy blue theme matching an American flag perched proudly on its wood-paneled stern.

There are several outdoor areas where the social media maven will be able to relax with his family and the indoor levels feature glass paneling allowing for tons of natural light.

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There also appears to be a helipad perfect for whenever the Facebook co-founder wants to travel to his vessel by air.

The Feadship-built yacht, built in 2022, can comfortably fit 24 guests aboard, requires a crew of 48, and is said to cost $30 million a year for upkeep and usage, according to Superyachtfan.com .

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Want celebrity news as it breaks? Hooked on Housewives?

Boatworld insiders have been buzzing with speculation that Zuckerberg is the owner of the newly minted mega-cruise ever since it made its main voyage from the Netherlands last week.

The tech titan was spotted touring the Russian-commissioned megayacht in early March, though the impressive boat didn’t arrive stateside until this week due to sanctions, according to The Sun.

The website reported that Zuckerberg purchased the pricey yacht – along with its own $30 million partner boat — most likely as an early 40th birthday present to himself.

The boat reportedly traveled to Florida after being granted special permission to be imported just weeks ahead of Zuckerberg’s birthday on May 14.

Zuckerberg’s yacht is just 30 feet shorter than the length of fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos’ 417-foot megayacht Koru, which the Amazon boss snagged for a whopping $500 million.

Zuckerberg’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

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