The 160-meter superyacht Blue, formerly known as Project Blue, was delivered to her owner earlier this month after successfully completing its sea trails and is currently on its maiden voyage to Malta. Built by German shipbuilding company Lürssen, the gargantuan luxury vessel is now the fifth largest yacht in the world in terms of LOA. In most cases, all we get to see are the official press photographs of a superyacht when it’s launched. However, Lürssen recently uploaded a video on its official YouTube channel, giving us a behind-the-scenes look at how the $600 million Blue superyacht was constructed over a period of more than two years. If you’ve ever wondered how some of the biggest luxury vessels are made, you should definitely watch the video.
Lürssen has compressed the entire two-plus years of construction process into a video that’s barely more than two minutes long by stitching together intriguing time-lapse clips.
The video begins with the keel laying ceremony that took place on 15 October 2019. Then it quickly moves to a time-lapse video with a top view of the shipyard which shows individual portions of the ship’s hull being brought together with the help of cranes.
The video then moves on to the part where one of the massive diesel engines powering the gigantic vessel is lowered by a crane into its position. The size of the engine simply astonishing, especially when you see it next to the humans helping in the installation process. According to Lürssen, Blue is powered by a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system that was developed in-house and also features PTI/PTO units that can be used for electric propulsion at slow speeds or for generating electrical energy at higher speeds.
Another time-lapse snippet shows how the yacht was constructed deck by deck by bolting together individual portions. The whole process looks mesmerizing. Blue boasts a gross tonnage of 15320.0 GT and a 22.5m beam, which is broader than even the biggest superyacht in the world, Azzam. The vessel also features an innovative after-treatment system and a wastewater treatment plant that is equipped with new membrane technology.
Once all the portions are brought together along with installing the propellers, the exterior of the vessel is painted in primer and prepared to be applied with paint. The video then fast-forwards to the final stages of Blue’s construction process. Once the vessel is painted and ready to go, the shipyard is flooded with water and the superyacht is towed out into the sea to begin its sea trials. Lürssen chose to do it at night under lights, making it look even more amazing.
The video ends with superyacht Blue sailing out in the sea – a sight to behold. Built at the cost of $600 million, Blue’s exterior and interior both have been designed by Terence Disdale. In terms of features, the yacht has a pair of helicopter landing sites, while all the four upper decks feature a large alfresco entertaining area. The vessel is owned by Emirati politician Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He’s the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, a billionaire, and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.
