SUPERYACHTS

Who builds them, who owns them and how many of them are cruising around the world in 2025?

Koru, the retro-styled superyacht owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is reported to have cost more than $500m to build.

https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/news/jeff-bezos-koru-yacht-best-pics

As of 2025, the ownership of the world's ten largest superyachts reveal royalty, billionaires, and high-profile figures. These luxurious ocean going palatial gas-guzzlers are owned by the oligarchs of the oil and gas industry.

Azzam: Owned by the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE; current ownership status unclear. The world's longest yacht, at 180.65 metres, with a top speed of over 30 knots, AZZAM is a truly extraordinary luxury superyacht. Her outstanding characteristics even include her exceptionally short building time of less than three years from keel laying to delivery, in 2013.

Fulk Al Salamah: Belongs to the Omani Royal Family, part of the Oman Royal Yacht Squadron. (Link provides all the details in a video showing the luxurious interior).

Eclipse: Owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is available for charter. See the link for details.

Dubai: Royal yacht of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai.

Blue: Co-owned by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Vice President, and Mohammed bin Rashid.

Dilbar: Commissioned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov; currently under sanctions and seized in Germany.

Al Said: Owned by the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman.

A+ (formerly Topaz): Reportedly owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan of the UAE.

Prince Abdulaziz: Built for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia; later inherited by King Abdullah.

Opera: Owned by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE. Beautiful interior seen in the linked video.

But what exactly is a superyacht?

While there is no official global classification, industry website and magazine Boat International describes one as "a luxury, privately-owned yacht that measures 24 metres or more in length, and is professionally crewed".

The magazine says that global sales boomed after Covid. With the super rich suddenly unable to go to luxury hotels, as they were all closed during the pandemic, many switched to superyachts instead.

As a result, 1,024 new superyachts were built or on order around the world in 2022, a 25% jump from 2021, and a then all-time high, according to Boat International's figures. This then increased to 1,203 in 2023, another new record.

"After the pandemic people considered their super yachts as safe islands both for themselves and their relatives," says Barbara Amerio who co-owns Italian family-run superyacht builder Amer.

She adds that billionaires cherished their personal space and independence even more. "They asked for bigger windows, more space outside, and to be able to touch the seawater more easily".

While the overall number of superyachts being built or ordered is expected to fall slightly this year to 1,138, they are getting bigger on average, Boat International's data also shows. So far this year, 61 boats of 76m or more in length are being made, up from 55 in 2024.

And in the 46m to 60m grouping, numbers have increased to 175 from 159. Meanwhile, sales of the smallest superyachts, between 24m and 27m are down to 286 from 321. ~ BBC article 3 July 2025

Next generation superyachts are on their way to the market and the only emission they will create is water!

Here is BREAKTHROUGH!

At the core of the yacht is a 3.2mW fuel cell system running on cryogenic liquid hydrogen stored at -253°C. This system generates electricity for hotel load and coastal cruising – emission-free, with water as the only byproduct. In June 2025, Breakthrough became the first superyacht to be supplied with liquid hydrogen in the Netherlands, and it required entirely new regulations and infrastructure to make it possible.

Carrying liquid hydrogen at -253°C is no small task. Feadship developed a 92-square-metre cryogenic storage room, with double-walled tanks and integrated venting stacks. This storage system alone added four metres to the yacht's original design. Hydrogen requires 8-10 times more volume than diesel for the same energy yield – one of the biggest hurdles overcome during the five-year build.

A hybrid setup allows Breakthrough to switch between hydrogen fuel cells and conventional diesel-electric power as needed. While her hydrogen system isn’t capable of powering transoceanic passages (yet), Breakthrough dramatically reduces emissions during the "hotel load" phase, which accounts for 70-78 per cent of annual energy use, according to the Yacht Environmental Transparency Index (YETI). ~ Boat International Editorial

With those breathtaking designs and matching prices we can only dream…

How about chartering the most popular superyacht?

For a cool half a million per week?

Don’t all rush to click the link now, we don’t want to DDos them, do we? 🤣😂

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