Vasili Sviridov
22.05.2021 12:56:36
The yard's claim proceeded to arbitration, and the parties reportedly reached a settlement agreement on Tuesday. As of Wednesday, the A had departed Gibraltar for Cartagena to continue her sea trials. here
See full version: World; s Largest Sailing Yacht Arrested in Gibraltar
The yard's claim proceeded to arbitration, and the parties reportedly reached a settlement agreement on Tuesday. As of Wednesday, the A had departed Gibraltar for Cartagena to continue her sea trials. here
At 470 feet in length, the A is the largest vessel of her type. The $300 million vessel has eight decks, berths for 54 crew and 20 passengers, a smimming pool, a helipad, an underwater observation deck and diesel-electric hybrid propulsion. With full sails and optimal wind conditions, she is capable of 35 knots. The A is said to have been given her unusual name in order to put her at the top of an alphabetical registry list; she replaces another futuristic vessel of the same name, the 6,000 gt motor yacht “A,” which features a raked bow and towering superstructure resembling the “stealth” destroyer Zumwalt. Both of Melnichenko's vessels were created by reknowned yacht designer Philippe Starck.
A public dispute over payment is unusual in the cloistered world of superyachts, where even the identity of the buyer is often kept hidden. A spokesman for the vessel’s owner, Russian fertilizer magnate Andrei Melnichenko, told Superyacht News that “we assumed the matter was progressing to a resolution as Nobiskrug were happy to release the yacht on February 5 to the owner’s project team for further works to be carried out in Spain." here
The world's largest sailing yacht, the futuristic "A," was detained last Wednesday upon her arrival in Gibraltar. She was arrested on a petition from her builders, Nobiskrug, who alleged that her new owner had not paid $16 million owed for her final delivery and outfitting. The vessel had just departed Germany for sea trials the week before. more
The vessel arrest in Gibraltar is not Melnichenko's first instance of litigation over the outfitting of his vessels. In 2013, he sued a leading coatings manufacturer for $100 million over a cosmetically "unsatisfactory" paint job on his motor yacht, alleging that the surface had blemishes like "lines," "sags," and a "cloudy" finish. here
Now, Melnichenko is planning an even more revolutionary entry in the mega-yacht wars. According to industry executives, Melnichenko and his yacht team are in the early stages of building a ship that will likely become the largest sailing yacht in the world.
The ship follows news this summer that a Middle Eastern billionaire is building a yacht that will become thelargest motor yacht in the world. While the broad yacht market remains weak, with lower prices and slack demand for sales and charter, a few of the mega-rich continue to fuel the battle for biggest and best on the seas. (See photos of Super-Yachts at a Discount.)
“The way this is being built and managed is unique,” said one contractor. “Mlenichenko likes to do things differently.”
The result of a fascinating design phase, Black Pearl began life as a concept drawn up by Ken Freivokh in 2010. Codenamed Nautilus, the concept utilised the DynaRig technology engineered by Dykstra Naval Architects and made famous by the 88m/289ft sailing yacht ‘Maltese Falcon’ built by Perini Navi.
In 2012, the Dutch shipyard Oceanco were selected as the builders, bringing in Italian designers Nuvolari Lenard who made a series of changes to the exterior and interior styling to transform her into the sailing yacht we see today.
Altogether, Black Pearl is truly deserving of her status as a new born legend, and her significance is sure to be felt for many more years to come.
After a month of sea trials, the sailing yacht A left Germany, to undergo a few more months of sea trials before being delivered to its rich owner, Russian billionaire Andrei Melnichenko, next spring. The latter would have an estimated wealth of 13.4 billion dollars (12 billion euros). Like its motorized counterpart - the motoryacht A - this sailboat has the name of the first letter of the alphabet. And the reason would be to appear first on the shipping register.
The construction was carried out in the greatest secrecy, even though we know that the Dutch studio Dykstra Naval Architects designed the rigging and keel or that Magma Structures in the United Kingdom designed the carbon masts, which are 100 m above the waterline, a height higher than that of Big Ben in London. here
With an interior volume of 12,600 gross tons and an area of 8 decks, the main features of the A are its underwater observation room, its hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system and its ultramodern navigation systems. We can also note its bomb-proof glass or its 40 security cameras. more