Owned by an Abu Dhabi prince, the $450 million Opera superyacht is so massive that it not only towered over the cargo cranes in Albania’s busiest harbor but made container stacks look like Lego bricks

Though royal palaces stay hidden from view, their superyachts give us a vivid taste of that grandeur. These floating mansions, despite their opulence, represent only a sliver of their owners’ land-based estates; still, these gilded goliaths that make jaws drop, and how! The latest example is the 479-foot superyacht Opera, owned by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, now moored in Albania’s busiest harbor, the Port of Durrës.

The Lürssen megayacht paused at the Port of Durrës during its Mediterranean voyage, shared Express. The humongous Lürssen pleasure craft measures 479 feet and ranks among the world’s largest vessels. It is no wonder the megayacht dominated the scene at Durrës for a fuel supply.

Even a refueling task becomes a big deal when involving a vessel as big as the Opera superyacht. The yacht was supplied with around 320,000 liters of diesel. Images of the $450 million ship make it appear not like a private yacht but a cruise ship owing to the mammoth size.

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The Port of Durrës. Image – X / @DurresPort

The Port of Durrës is no leisure marina; it is Albania’s busiest industrial and commercial hub, serving cargo ships, container traffic, and freight moving oil, minerals, construction materials, and consumer goods. Refueling a 12,500-GT vessel is anything but routine. Even so, Opera’s towering profile reduced the surrounding cranes, machinery, and buildings to toy-like proportions.

The incredible Lürssen masterpiece is a befitting representation of its regal owner, who sleeps 48 guests in 26 cabins and 40 crew. Built for a royal family, it includes every amenity in the book, though as is the case with royal vessels, everything is sheathed in secrecy. As for the Opera yacht, it is known to include two swimming pools, one on the sun deck and one on the main deck with a rise-and-fall floor, massive garages for toys and tenders, and two helipads on the foredeck and stern.

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The large ship left the Port of Durrës and is currently docked at the Port of Venice, according to Marine Traffic, to enjoy the calm and beauty of the lagoon now that the circus of celebrities is over, as Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez got married a few days ago.