MegaYacht

German Billionaire Offers World's Fastest Long-Range Superyacht for $85 Million

German eco-industrialist Guido Krass is offering to sell his 241-ft. Silver Zwei (above), the world's fastest long-range superyacht, for €59 million (about $85 million). Designed to the billionaire's specifications by Monaco's famed Espen Oeino, the Silver Zwei is about as an environmentally friendly as a yacht of its size and speed can be.

That means high fuel efficiency, which is quite handy when crossing the Atlantic at a cool 22 knots. The yacht's light, airy interior has accommodations for 20 guests in nine cabins including a large owner's suite with private lounge and veranda deck. Earth tones and clean white spaces with orange accents abound.

Tags: billionaire, eco yacht, Espen Oeino, Guido Krass, megayacht, Silver Zwei, superyacht, yacht

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Charter Steven Spielberg's New Superyacht for $1.3 Million a Week: The World's Most Expensive

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

Luxist recently reported about Steven Spielberg's amazing new $200 million megayacht the Seven Seas (pictured above). Now it seems as though the famed director wants to recoup some of his impressive investment – he's offering the ultra-luxurious yacht for charter at $1.3 million per week. That makes it the world's most expensive yacht charter, leaving the likes of P. Diddy and Simon Cowell's crafts in the dust.

Tags: celebrity yacht, Hollywood, megayacht, Oceanco, Seven Seas, Steven Spielberg, Steven Spielberg yacht, superyacht, worlds most expensive, worlds most expensive yachts, yacht, yacht charter

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Steven Spielberg Sets Sail on His New $200 Million Megayacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Celebrity Shopping, Wealth

Famed director Steven Spielberg was recently spotted in St. Barth's and St. Maarten on his new $200 million megayacht, the Seven Seas (pictured above), a stylish 282-footer fitted with every imaginable luxury.

Built by Dutch shipyard Oceanco to the Hollywood mogul's specifications, it has a sophisticated interior design scheme with acres of walnut, teak and rosewood. Its most impressive feature is an infinity pool with a 15-ft. glass wall that doubles as a cinema screen so Spielberg and his guests can view movies while swimming or lounging poolside.

Tags: celebrity, celebrity yacht, director, Hollywood, megayacht, movie mogul, movies, Oceanco, spielberg+yacht, spielbergs+yacht, spielbergsyacht, spielbergyacht, Steven Spielberg, Steven Spielberg yacht, steven+spielbergs+new+yacht, steven+spielbergs+yacht, stevenspielbergsnewyacht, stevenspielbergsyacht, superyacht, wealth, yacht, yacht design

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Russian Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko Buys $12 Million Central Park Pad

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

Russian Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko Buys $12 Million Central Park Pad

Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, owner of the eye-popping $300 million megayacht 'A' (above) designed by Philippe Starck, has splashed out $12.2 million on a penthouse pied-à-terre in Central Park. It's the first New York property for Melnichenko, at 38 one of the world's youngest billionaires, and his model wife Aleksandra, the Wall St. Journal reports, added to a real estate portfolio that includes apartments and estates in Moscow, France and the U.K. The 2,800-sq.-ft., two-bedroom duplex has two balconies, a terrace facing Central Park, and an entrance gallery with 24-foot ceilings. As we reported back in January Melnichenko, who amassed a $4.4 billion fortune in fertilizer and banking, entertained Martha Stewart, Demi Moore and Aston Kutcher on his yacht in St. Barth's over New Year's during Roman Abramovich's bash.

Tags: Andrey Melnichenko, billionaire, Central Park, mega+yacht, megayacht, New York, oligarch, penthouse, Philippe Starck, real estate, Roman Abramovich, Russia, Russian billionaires, superyacht, wealth, yacht

How Blohm + Voss Lost $300 Million on Roman Abramovich's 'Eclipse'

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

When we wrote about all the delays, snafus and spiraling costs surrounding Roman Abramovich's gigayacht Eclipse, many people had a good chuckle over the hundreds of millions of dollars in overages the oligarch incurred in his quest for the world's largest yacht. Now it turns out he's having the last laugh, because the yacht's German builders Blohm + Voss got stuck with the bill. That's because six years ago they rather foolishly signed an ironclad contract to complete the project for €340 million (about $485 million) according to a new report, whereas the actual cost turned out to be closer to €570 million, or about $785 million – meaning B+V took a bath to the tune of $300 million, enough for a whole other megayacht. Now Blohm + Voss' competitors at Lürssen are indulging in a good dose of schadenfreude over the incident while building an even bigger yacht for an Arab sheik.

Tags: Blohm + Voss, Eclipse, eclipse+yacht, eclipseyacht, megayacht, Roman Abramovich, roman+abramovich+eclipse, romanabramovicheclipse, Russian billionaires, superyacht, wealth, yacht

Abramovich's 'Eclipse' Meets the 'A' in Anguilla

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

Abramovich's 'Eclipse' Meets the 'A' in Anguilla

Having had their fill of St. Barth's and the supermodels and celebs who converged on its posh purlieus for New Year's, Russian billionaires Roman Abramovich and Andrei Melnichenko have now decamped with their megayachts to Anguilla. Abramovich, who stopped off in Barbados en route, dominates the seascape in the Eclipse (above), his $500 million, 550-ft. behemoth built by Blohm + Voss, while Melnichenko makes do with his measly $300 million Philippe Starck-designed destroyer 'A'. Abramovich also brought the Luna along for the ride to Anguilla, the 377 ft. explorer yacht he purchased last year as a sort of support yacht for the Eclipse and lent to Madonna last summer. All three of the enormous vessels were anchored off Meads Bay, allowing their owners easy access to Anguilla's posh resorts including the Viceroy, Frangipani Beach Resort, Carimar Beach Club and Malliouhana Hotel and Spa.

Tags: Andrei Melnichenko, Anguilla, Barbados, billionaire, Blohm + Voss, Eclipse, megayacht, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaires, St. Barths, St. Barts, superyacht, yacht

Salma Hayek & Supermodels Party on St. Barths' Sexiest Superyacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

Roman Abramovich's Eclipse is bigger, Demi Moore's Philippe Starck-designed cruiser is cooler, and P. Diddy's floating iPad-controlled palace is more expensive, but the 161-ft. Destination Fox Harb'r Too was hands-down the sexiest superyacht in St. Barths over the New Year's vacation. It's not that there's anything terribly special about the Trinity-built vessel considering the competition; rather it has to do with who was onboard: Salma Hayek and stunning supermodels Alessandra Ambrosio (above) and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Hayek's billionaire husband François-Henri Pinault of the famed French luxury goods conglomerate reportedly footed the $250,000-per-week tab for the oceangoing extravaganza.

Destination Fox Harb'r Too was launched in 2008 with luxe accommodations for 11 guests in six spacious staterooms. The yacht is manned by a crew of 10 including a 5-star chef, three hostesses and a watersports guide. The split-level owner's suite features amazing 180-degree views and dual private en-suite baths. The Patrick Knowles Design interior is modeled on a European spa resort, featuring sophisticated fabrics, hand-carved glass and stone work, and acres of Honduran mahogany paneling with redwood burl, lacewood, and Macassar ebony accents. The sexy shipmates were in St. Barths for Abramovich's lavish New Year's Eve bash featuring the Black Eyed Peas.

[via JustLuxe]

Gallery: 'Destination Fox Harb'r Too'

Tags: Alessandra Ambrosio, megayacht, Philippe Starck, Roman Abramovich, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Salma Hayek, St. Barths, supermodels, superyacht, yacht

Demi Moore & Martha Stewart Party on Russian Billionaire's Megayacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Events, Wealth

Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and Martha Stewart made the New Year's scene in St. Barths as guests of Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko aboard his Philippe Starck-designed megayacht 'A' (above). The awe-inspiring 390-ft. craft ranks as the 11th largest yacht in the world and cost an estimated $300 million to build. The celebs were in town for oligarch Roman Abramovich's star-studded New Year's Eve bash featuring the Black Eyed Peas at his lavish estate on the island. While on board the yacht Moore strutted around in a barely-there bikini and caught some rays.

She and Kutcher also played around on the vessel's jet skis. The yacht's interior features $40,000 bath faucets, $60,000 stair banisters, and an all-white, 2,583-sq.-ft. master suite wrapped in bulletproof glass and accessed by a silver-plated staircase with a fingerprint scanner at the door. Key decor accents include Baccarat crystal tables, alligator skin and Kudu horn chairs, stingray skin upholstered walls and hand-stitched leather paneling. Filling the A's gas tanks alone costs $500,000 a pop and running costs come to about $20 million a year.

Tags: Andrey Melnichenko, Ashton Kutcher, celebrity, Demi Moore, Martha Stewart, megayacht, parties, Philippe Starck, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaires, St. Barths, superyacht, yacht

Abramovich's 'Eclipse' Finally Ready to Set Sail

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

After a year-long delay our favorite Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich finally took delivery of the world's largest and most expensive yacht, the Eclipse (above), the other day in time to berth her in St. Barths for his big New Year's Eve bash starring the Black Eyed Peas. The yacht, which measures anywhere from 533 ft. to 557 ft. depending on reports, cost somewhere between $500 million – $1 billion, again depending on which news accounts you give credit to. In any case, the Eclipse will cost an estimated $50 million a year to maintain and each fill-up at the gas tanks will run Roman a cool $650,000. The Eclipse, built by Germany's Blohm + Voss with luxe accommodations for 30 guests and 75 crew members, was beset with problems as we noted over the summer. The yacht, which features a military-grade missile defense system, armor plating, bulletproof windows, three helipads, two swimming pools and a wellness center, is said to be paparazzi proof thanks to a special electronic shield.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: abramovich, abramovich+eclipse, abramovicheclipse, Blohm + Voss, eclipse+yacht, eclipseyacht, megayacht, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaires, st+barts, St. Barths, stbarts, wealth, yacht

Tony Accurso's Touch Yacht Up For Sale To Satisfy Tax Debt

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Tony Accurso, a Quebec millionaire whose construction companies are facing federal tax evasion charges, is selling off his luxury yacht. Accurso owns a 120-foot yacht known as the Touch. The Toronto Sun reports that an Accurso company, Louisbourg Construction, pleaded guilty Tuesday to improperly claiming and deducting $1.7 million in expenses on the yacht as business expenses. Louisbourg and construction company Simard-Beaudry also pleaded guilty to two counts of tax evasion agreeing to pay $4.1 million in taxes plus an additional $4.1 million in fines by next summer. All that necessitated the sale of the Touch, an aluminum-hulled super yacht built in 2004 and refitted in 2008.

The yacht accommodates up to eight guests in a master cabin and three double cabins and has room for a crew of seven. It also has an on-board exterior hot tub, leather chairs on its top deck, wireless Internet, a private dining room, and several bars and lounges. The interior was designed by Quebec designer Danielle Vignault with gleaming teak wood finishes. It comes with a variety of toys including kayaks, water skiing equipment, wake boards, and three towable and inflatable inner tubes. The yacht has a cruising speed of 11 knots. It is for sale through Fraser Yachts for $7.9 million.

Gallery: Touch Yacht

Tags: megayacht, superyacht, tony accurso, touch, yacht for sale

Geffen Edges Out Ellison to Seize Control of World's Sixth Largest Yacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

Music mogul David Geffen is now the sole owner of Rising Sun (above), the world's sixth largest yacht, having seized control from co-owner Larry Ellison. Originally commissioned by the Oracle billionaire from Germany's Lürssen shipyard in 2004, the 456 ft. megayacht cost about $250 million to build. After gaining possession of the craft – the terms of the deal have not been disclosed – Geffen has sent the boat back to Lurssen for some much-needed modifications while Ellison prepares to take delivery of a much smaller 298-ft. superyacht. Considerably bigger than other billionaire boats like Paul Allen's Octopus, the Rising Sun features luxe accommodations for 12 people in addition to 30 crew members and boasts a total of 82 rooms on five decks. Onyx countertops, a gymnasium, spa, sauna, wine cellar, private cinema and basketball court that converts to a helipad are some of the over-the-top touches onboard. Four MTU 20V 8000 M90 diesel engines with a combined output of 50,000 hp move the massive yacht along at up to 28 knots.

[via JamesList]

Tags: billionaire, David Geffen, Germany, Larry Ellison, megayacht, Paul Allen, Rising Sun, superyacht, yacht

Largest Yacht Ever Built in Italy Knocks Paul Allen Off the Top 10

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen no longer owns one of the world's 10 largest yachts thanks to the just-launched Serene (above) from Fincantieri. At just under 440 ft. Serene is the largest yacht ever built in Italy, and enters the list of the world's largest yachts at No. 9, according to Camper & Nicholsons – just behind the floating brothel Savarona. That knocks Allen's famed 414-ft. Octopus out of the top 10 altogether (No. 1 of course is still, by a mere 18 inches, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse). The billionaire buyer of Serene is unknown. Designed by Espen Oeino, the Serene, which took four years to complete, has seven decks, a tender hangar and two helipads. The high-tech megayacht features a large seawater swimming pool and a submarine with a diving depth of up to 100 metres. The 4,500 square meter interior boasts super-luxe accommodations and entertaining spaces designed by Pascale Reymond of London's Reymond Langton Design.

[via JamesList]

Tags: billionaire, Eclipse, Espen Oeino, Fincantieri, Italy, megayacht, Microsoft, Paul Allen, Roman Abramovich, submarine, superyacht, wealth, yacht, yacht design

World's Seventh Largest Yacht Could Be Seized in Sex Sting

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Turkish officials are moving to seize the 446-ft. Savarona (above), the world's seventh largest yacht, in the wake of the dramatic prostitution raid on the ship off the Turkish coast which we first reported on Friday. Authorities charged that the megayacht, which is owned by the Republic of Turkey, was being run as a floating brothel by the unnamed businessman who had been renting it for $40,000 per day. Clients paid $3,000 to $10,000 per night to have sex with one or more Russian and Ukrainian fashion models, some of whom were underage and are being deported, according to reports.

A sometime business associate of Donald Trump, real estate mogul Tevfik Arif, was among those taken into custody when armed police arrived in helicopters to find an orgy in full swing. Built by Blohm + Voss in 1931 for an American heiress, the lavishly refurbished yacht features accommodations for 34 guests with 260 tons of polished marble, a swimming pool, turkish bath, 282-foot gold-trimmed grand staircase, movie theater, library and helipad. Celebrities who have stayed aboard her include Prince Charles, the Sultan of Brunei, Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Hugh Grant and Tom Cruise, though so far there is no evidence any of them did so while the brothel was in operation.

UPDATE at 6:00pm ET on May 16, 2012: Tevfik Arif was acquitted of all charges in April 2011, according to The Guardian.

Gallery: The Superyacht 'Savarona'

Tags: Blohm + Voss, crime, Donald Trump, megayacht, Savarona, sex, superyacht, Tevfik Arif, Turkey, wealth, yacht

'Eclipse' Builders Blohm + Voss to Launch 1930s-Style Megayacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Roman Abramovich's gigantic high-tech gigayacht Eclipse has been a major headache for German shipyard Blohm + Voss, with the Russian billionaire complaining about everything from the mirrors to the engine vibrations. While the project still stumbles along, as we reported earlier this month it won't even be the world's largest privately owned yacht by the time it's finally finished. Perhaps that's why Blohm + Voss' next big project eschews the ultra-modern in favor of something more appealing than appalling: a 1930s-style superyacht that borrows heavily from the famed firm's 130-year-old archives. At 364 feet, the B+V 111 MY/ Vintage (above) actually qualifies for megayacht status.

In addition to a helipad the exterior spaces offer a swimming pool with glazed side panels and a large beach club aft. The entire 5th deck is devoted to the owner's suite which includes a large bedroom, his and hers bathrooms and dressing areas, a private dining room, gym and lounge. In addition up to 12 guests can be accommodated in four luxury and two VIP guests cabins. An indoor dining area with a lounge connects to an aft deck for al fresco dining and cocktailing. With a crew of 25 seeing to the yacht's diesel-mechanical propulsion system, she's set for a cruising speed of 14.5 knots.

[via JamesList]

Tags: Blohm + Voss, Eclipse, megayacht, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaires, superyacht, swimming pool, yacht

A Peek Inside Tatoosh

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

We've been talking a lot about Paul Allen's Tatoosh yacht recently. We first heard in May that it was up for sale for 125 million euros (over $160 million) through Fraser Yachts. It came up again when we saw the 288-ft. Musashi built for an unnamed billionaire believed to be Paul Allen looking for a replacement for Tatoosh (the name has led some to speculate it could also belong to Larry Ellison). It came up a third time when we learned that Paris Hilton had spent time aboard Tatoosh this summer, tweeting that she was "on heaven on the water." Given that kind of recommendation we had to take a closer look. Luckily Fraser Yachts have plenty of listing pictures that offer a detailed view of the 303-foot yacht. The Tatoosh was built in 2001 by HDW Nobiskrug and refitted just this year. It has an owner's stateroom plus nine guest staterooms with room for 20 guests and 30 crew. There is a cinema, swimming pool and two helicopter decks. Other over-the-top features include a basketball court, recording studio, spa, massage room, gym and games room. Tatoosh is powered by twin DEUTZ-MWM Diesel engines and can reach a top speed of 19 knots and cruises comfortably at 15 knots.

Gallery: A Peek Inside Tatoosh