Dutch yard Oceanco delivers 'Vibrant Curiosity' and there's quite a few more like her in progress...
Previously known by her yard number Y704, 'Vibrant Curiosity' is an 85.5m (280ft) full-displacement superyacht with a flared bow and a 14.20m (47ft) beam.. In terms of GT, she's the largest yacht to have ever launched from Holland.
MAY 2009
Vibrant Curiosity was styled inside and out by Italy’s Nuvolari & Lenard, which these dates not only rates as one of the world’s most successful yacht studios, but also one of the most flexible when one considers it is creating production boats as small as 12m (40ft) as well as leviathans such as its recent Oceanco projects.
This steel/aluminium yacht can reach a maximum speed of 20 knots and her cruising range will exceed 5,500 nautical miles at 14 knots. Her accommodation includes a master suite, one VIP suite with his-and-her bathrooms, five double VIP suites and two double guest cabins.
The crew complement is 26.
YBI would guess a yacht of this size to have cost around €145-£150 million when the contract was signed three years or more ago, which would mean upwards of around €58,000 per GT. She's around 2,500GT. She's a big boat; indeed in terms of GT she is the largest yacht to ever launch from Holland; her bare fabricated hull alone weighed in at approximately 720 tonnes. As for an 85-87m (279-285ft) contract now, one would expect €170 million to be closer to the mark, as there has been such pressure on raw material and equipment costs over the past few years. But as said, these are just 'guesstimates', as yards such as Oceanco will or course never release new-build contract values.
Basic Spec – Y704 Vibrant Curiosity
LOA 85.5m (280ft)
Max Beam 14.20m (47ft)
Max Speed 20 knots
Engines 2 x 4,680hp (3,492kW) MTU 16V595TE70
Fuel Capacity 284,500 litres (75,157 US gals)
Construction Steel/Ali
Classification X100 A1 SSC Yacht (P) MONO G6 X LMC UMS – MCA
Naval Architecture Oceanco/Azure
Exterior/Interior Styling Nuvolari & Lenard
Oceanco has clearly established itself in the 75m-90m (246-295ft) sector. Although having said that, the yard says it will still tender for projects down to 60m and, of course, it is capable of going bigger still. It’s biggest to date was the 2000-launched 95m (311ft) Indian Empress (ex-Al Mirqab), which had a beam of 15.2m (50ft). And it says it could cope up to 130m (426ft), which is the length of its quay at its Alblasserdam facility.
Early 2010 will see the delivery of Y705, which also has an LOA of 85.5m (280ft) and is based on the same basic technical platform as Y704. Her exterior was beautifully drawn by the late Bjorn Johansson; her interior scheme is the work of Terence Disdale.
Basic Spec – Y705
LOA 85.5m (280ft)
Max Beam 14.20m (47ft)
Maximum Speed 18.5 knots
Engines 2 x 4,680hp / 3,492kW MTU 16V595TE70
Fuel Capacity 287,600 litres (75,976 US gals)
Construction Steel/Ali
Classification Lloyds X 100 A1 SSC Yacht (P) MONO G6 X LMC UMS MCA
Naval Architecture Oceanco/Azure
Exterior Design Bjorn Johansson
Interior Design Terence Disdale
Then well progressed are the 86m (282ft) Y706 and 87m (285ft) Y707. Both projects are once again based on the same basic technical platform as the previous 85.5m (280ft) projects,altough they’ve grown ever-so slightly; obviously both will eventually sport different exterior and interior styling. They should both deliver in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Basic Spec – Y706
LOA 86m (282ft)
Max Beam 14.20m (47ft)
Maximum Speed 18.5 knots
Engines 2 x 4,680hp / 3,492kW MTU 16V595TE70
Fuel Capacity 280,000 litres (73,968 US gals)
Construction Steel/Ali
Classification X 100 A1 SSC Yacht (P) MONO G6 X LMC UMS SCM
Registration MCA LY2
Naval Architecture Oceanco/Azure
Exterior/Interior Design Nuvolari & Lenard
Interior Decoration Molly Isaksen Interiors
And beyond that we can look forward to seeing the Y708, which will have an Igor Lobanov-exterior and a Remi Tessier interior, and Y709, which is rumoured to be 90m (295ft).
During ’08 Oceanco delivered, Y703, the 75.5m (248ft) Sam Sorgiovanni-styled-inside-and-out Anastasia and in ’07 Y701, the 80m (262ft) Amevi, and Y702, the 82m (269ft) Alfa Nero, both of which also sport exteriors drawn by Venice-based Carlo Nuvolari and Dan Lenard. Their interiors were the work of Alberto Pinto.
Oceanco aims to have two to three projects in hand for fit out at any one time at its huge 145x45m (475x148ft) construction hall in Alblasserdam, which employs just 50 people directly despite the fact that there are usually well over 300 in the yard at any given time. Most of Oceanco’s steel hulls these days are fabricated by Dutch exclusive subcontract yard Zwijnenburg, although aluminium superstructures are sourced from Poland. From start to finish an 85m (262ft) project is currently taking around 30 months from cutting metal to delivery — encompassing, say, a 14-month fabrication and a 16-month fit-out.
The company retains its design office and sales and marketing team in Monaco.
Thanks to the backing over the past few years of Theo Angelopoulos, the Greek owner of the 60m (197ft) ’04-launched Oceanco Alfa Four and most recenbtly the 82m (269ft) Alfa Nero, the Oceanco Shipyard has been able to re-establish itself as a more than credible force following a sticky period several years ago that saw the company grind to a halt.
For more, www.oceancoyacht.com.
© Phil Draper
