February 7, 2005 In recent weeks we've written about Sigma, the 118 metre Phillipe Starck-designed megayacht, Octopus the world's second biggest yacht owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and the 138 metre Rising Sun, the biggest megayacht in the world owned by Oracle Software founder Larry Ellison. Now there's a new superyacht coming that will be bigger than all of them - Paris-based designer Hermidas Atabeyki has designed a 147 metre palace on water which sets new standards when it comes to design, outfit and functionality.
Complete with its own helicopter landing pads, and an integrated submarine, Atabeyki's fundamental idea behind the project codenamed M-147 was to develop several thematically different spatial elements instead of long continuous decks and at the same time to retain spaciousness and grand scale.
The result is various loggias, balconies, oriels and sun decks. Visitors on board will therefore gain new views and insights every time they go on an exploratory tour of the boat.
A special characteristic of the trendsetting M-147 yacht is, among other things, a loggia which stretches over the whole width of the yacht, linking the main salon with the dining room. In the stern a round shaped room with a continuous glass front provides an impressive 270° panorama view.
In addition the yacht is equipped with a swimming pool on the upper deck, a cinema and a disco. The yacht has a garage for a submarine, with which the owner and guests can go on discovery trips through the underwater world, and a helicopter pad. An 18 metre long tender has been perfectly integrated into the silhouette.
The elite Blohm+Voss ship-building facilities will construct the yacht should it be built, and as usual, there is little more known than the design specs and computer generated images. Although no details of the construction schedule have been released, if it is built, it should cost more than 250 million Euros.
Rumours have linked Russian self-made billionaire Roman Abramovich to the yacht - 38 year-old Abramovich has rocketed into international prominence in the last decade and was rated by Forbes magazine as one of the 25 wealthiest people on the planet in its famous Rich List. (49th in 2003, 127th in 2002, 363rd in 2001).
Abramovich recently purchased English soccer club Chelsea and reportedly nearly purchased his own Formula One team, indicating he has a sporting bent to rival that of Paul Allen (who owns his own NBA basketball team and NFL football team) and Larry Ellison (who has attempted to buy both basketball and football teams). For now there are no signs of the project commencing construction, but we can only hope, even if it's only to see what Larry Ellison, renowned for his competitiveness, might formulate in response. After all, Ellison skippered his own winning yacht in the infamous 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race (see our recent story on The World's most dangerous sporting event) .
Technical Data:Length: 147.10 metres (482.6 feet)Width: 21.50 metres (70.5 feet)Draught: 5.00 metres (16.4 feet)Maximum Speed: 25 knotsCruise Speed: 25 knotsCapacity: 24 Owner's and Guest1 Owner's Suite6 Guest Suites5 VIP Suites