The $50 million explorer yacht Akula, owned by a Goldman Sachs banker, is up for sale, bringing to market one of the more unusual privately-owned expedition vessels launched in recent years. The yacht is not being pitched as a conventional luxury resale. Instead, it is being positioned as a lightly used, fully-commissioned explorer platform that has already completed an intensive first season of real-world cruising.
Akula is a 59-meter (about 194 feet) hybrid explorer delivered in 2024 by renowned Italian shipyard Rossinavi, and from the outset, it was shaped around a research-forward brief. Multiple yachting outlets have described her as a vessel capable of supporting oceanography, marine biology, and even marine archaeology. The Boat International report goes further, noting onboard labs and workshops. That distinction matters. This is not decorative science language added late in the process. It is embedded in the general arrangement, the systems, and the way the yacht is meant to operate.
Capacity is deliberately restrained. Akula accommodates 10 guests across five cabins, all located on the main deck, supported by a crew of 13. Dynamic positioning and Naiad stabilizers, both at anchor and underway, allow the yacht to hold station quietly and safely without dropping anchor. That capability is essential for research support, equipment deployment, or simply remaining fixed in place without disturbing the seabed below.
The general arrangement is unconventional by superyacht standards. There is no grand main salon and no dramatic central staircase. Instead, the social heart of the yacht is a relaxed upper-deck skylounge that functions more like an observation club than a formal entertaining space. A fire pit sits at its center, designed for stargazing and long evenings at anchor rather than dockside spectacle. It is a subtle design choice that reveals how the yacht was intended to be used.
Inside, FM Architettura’s interior strikes a deliberately calm note. The design is warm and understated, using soft textures, natural materials, and muted tones that contrast sharply with the yacht’s aggressive, expedition-oriented exterior. The listing emphasizes “secret spaces,” and in this case the term feels earned.
Highlights include an upper-deck wellness area with a fully equipped gym, sauna, massage room, and heated pool. There is an owner’s man cave on the bridge deck filled with nautical antiques, a practical mud room with drying systems for expedition gear, a craft room originally requested so the owner’s wife could work on embroidery, and a proper lower-deck workshop. A lift connects all decks, allowing equipment and parts to be moved internally.
The owner behind the project is Jonathan Faiman. Born in 1969, he built his early career in finance at Goldman Sachs, where he headed the emerging markets trading desk. In 2000, he co-founded Ocado alongside Tim Steiner and Jason Gissing, serving as chief operating officer until 2008. He later sold his remaining Ocado shares around the company’s 2010 stock market listing. Public reporting suggests he realized roughly $9 million at the time, a figure that would have been worth several hundred million dollars had he held on as the company’s valuation surged.
Faiman lives between Monaco and London, with a substantial home near Regent’s Park, but Akula was never a dock-bound showpiece. He and his wife spent more than 20 weeks onboard during the first season, following an itinerary that read more like a careful shakedown than a quick cruise. Italian ports for food and art, historic ruins in Turkey, kayaking along Portugal and Galicia, and onshore exploration in Brittany and Cornwall. He has described the UK as surprisingly good superyacht cruising territory if you can live with the weather, even singling out a fish and chip shop in Dartmouth for its food and friendliness.
There is also history behind the name. Faiman previously owned a rugged ex-Dutch pilot ship called Akula, later renamed Omnia, which he used to fly his own helicopter into the Arctic. The new Akula is a direct successor in philosophy but not execution: cleaner, hybrid, science-ready, and built from scratch rather than adapted from working steel. While the asking price has not been revealed in the listing, Akula enters the market with something most explorer listings lack. She has already been used exactly as intended, and that first season quietly proves the point.
