|
With the launch of the gleaming new Azzam, Russian
billionaire Roman Abramovich can no longer lay claim to being the owner
of the world's largest superyacht.
At 590- feet long, the Azzam is 57-feet longer than Abramovich's mighty
Eclipse -- previously the largest yacht on the waves. The hulking
superyacht is significantly longer than a football field, larger than
the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and more capacious than many
popular cruise ships.
|
|
 |
|
Last month, the behemoth eased cautiously out of its shipyard in Bremen,
Germany, ushered by a team of powerful tugboats which were dwarfed by
its enormous scale. The yacht has been kept under wraps throughout its
construction for the past three years.
The identity of the huge boat's owner remains a mystery, but some
speculate that it belongs to a powerful Middle Eastern billionaire.
Just building the yacht cost a staggering $605 million -- a fee which
doesn't even begin to take into account the sky-high costs of its annual
upkeep. In his book on the Lady Linda superyacht, author G. Bruce Knecht
said that, "operating and maintaining a yacht is at least 10% of what
the thing cost." By which estimation, just keeping the Azzam on the
water could cost as much as $60 million every year. |
|
|
|
The project was brought to fruition by Mubarak Saad al Ahbabi, who
assembled a triumvirate of yacht-building super stars: the Azzam's
engineering was done by premier German shipbuilding company Lürssen, the
exterior design was by Nauta Yachts and the interior was composed by
Christophe Leoni.
At present, very little is known about the interior detailing of the
vessel. A spokesperson for Lürssen said "the yacht is still under
construction, and I doubt that we will get permission to shoot her even
when she is ready." |
|
|
|
Experts suggest that the interior could match or even surpass the
opulence of Abramovich's yacht which is equipped with two helipads, two
swimming pools, a cinema, a disco and a mini-submarine that can dive to
150-feet to explore the ocean floor. Bullet-proof glass and armor
plating lines Abramovich's master bedroom, and the boat has its own
missile defence system.
The Azzam is described as having a "sophisticated and luxurious interior
in a turn of the century Empire style." Although his primary work is not
in yachting, French interior decorator Christophe Leoni says he is
"confident that the final yacht is everything and more the owner
expects."
TheYachtPhoto's Peter Seyfferth commented: "For a yacht of this size, I
think that she looks amazingly elegant and sleek." |
|
 |
|
As well as its prodigious length, the yacht also travels at a
record-breaking pace. With a top speed of over 30 knots (around 34 mph),
the Azzam is considered to be the fastest superyacht on the sea.
The Azzam is the latest in a line of vessels to have held the mantle of
world's largest yacht. Prior to the Eclipse, the 482-foot Prince
Abdulaziz, owned by the Saudi royal family, held the record for 22
years. And before it, the Rising Sun was briefly the record-holder.
Built by American businessman Larry Ellison, The Rising Sun came in at
454-feet and cost $200 million.
|
|
 |
|
With many more billionaires around the world eager to inscribe their
names into the history books, it is anyone's guess quite how long the
Azzam will remain at the top. For now, its mystery owner can revel in
the knowledge that his or her boat is at the very pinnacle of the
yachting pecking order. |
|
VIEW PICTURE GALLERY
|
|
|