There are superyachts, and then there are shadow vessels. Then there is a third category: explorer yachts so robust and well-equipped, they look like a hybrid of a luxury yacht and a support ship. Case in point is the 351-foot Lürssen superyacht Project Shackleton, which has been spotted leaving Germany en route to sea trials in Denmark. Now christened O3, the vessel began life as Icecap, which was sold to Canadian billionaire John Carter Risley in 2018. It has finally got a new lease on life as O3, with delivery expected this spring, according to Boat International. The explorer has been under construction for eight years and was sold for a second time during construction in 2022, reportedly to Sir Leonard Blavatnik.
That year, it was first spotted at the Peene-Werft shipyard in Wolgast, Germany, a yard that specialises in the new build and repairs of naval vessels and coastguard vessels, which means O3 literally took shape among the giants. What stood out most was not a pool, a helipad, or a basketball court, but an exterior that looked both distinct and purposeful. The inverted X-bow brings a commercial ship to mind, but it is also about handling rougher water with less slamming and delivering a calmer ride. At around 6,000 GT, O3 is a mammoth in the truest sense, with accommodation for 20 guests across 10 suites.
There is also a huge aft deck designed to store and deploy tenders, the kind of working deck that hints at a yacht built for distance, not dockside posing. The five-decker is believed to include a spa and health-and-beauty area, a beach club, an elevator, and a pool. There is also a large helideck, which was reportedly installed following the second sale. Even the name feels like a reset; O3, short and coded, more like a formula than a vanity plate, and a subtle nod to the owner’s other yacht, Odessa II.
On the performance side, because she is meant to explore not just the Mediterranean but the lengths and breadths of the planet, O3 comes equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system and features state-of-the-art energy-saving, power storage, heating, and cooling systems. She also holds large battery banks to run hotel functions. The ship is now reportedly owned by billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the famously private Access Industries founder. The Ukraine-born immigrant, who now holds dual citizenship in the UK and the US, is expanding his fleet with the outsized and formidable O3. Looks like the smaller $80 million Odessa II is getting a much bigger sister.
The entertainment billionaire Len Blavatnik:
This Ukraine-born Harvard MBA has come a long way from the young man who arrived in the United States in 1978 without wealth and with only an education to earn. The journey of the 68-year-old UK-based billionaire is genuinely striking. He made his first fortune in the chaos of the post-Soviet 1990s, which later evolved into Access Industries, his investment firm with holdings across energy, chemicals, and other sectors, including stakes linked to LyondellBasell, Calpine, and Opendoor.
One of his most lucrative decisions came in 2011, when he bought Warner Music for $3.3 billion, then took it public in June 2020 at a valuation that effectively multiplied that bet many times over. Blavatnik has also expanded into entertainment, producing Broadway shows including The Front Page and Sunset Boulevard. Today, he is worth around $30 billion, according to Forbes, and with his latest purchase, he is expected to spend a relatively measly $30 million a year on O3’s upkeep, about 0.1% of his net worth. Even over a decade, $30 million a year adds up to $300 million, still only 1% of his immense fortune.
If O3 is the sea-going base, his footprint on land and in the air is just as formidable. His reported real estate portfolio includes a Kensington Palace Gardens mansion on London’s Billionaires Row, often valued at over $200 million today. In New York, he has been linked to a $90 million Upper East Side townhouse, along with other prime holdings around Fifth Avenue and Central Park. In true billionaire flair, he also owns a nearly nine-acre oceanfront estate in Amagansett in the Hamptons. And when he moves, he moves big, with reported private aircraft that include a VIP-configured Boeing 767 and a Gulfstream G650-class jet.
