At her time of delivery in 2000, 95m Indian Empress was up among the 20 largest superyachts in the fleet. Now she has returned to the fleet and stunned again, following a €6.4 million refit at Turquoise yachts - at the Pendik facility, Turkey.

Indian Empress arrived at the Turkish shipyard for an extensive interior refit led by Mark Berryman, with little flexibility on timing due to her popularity on the charter market. As a result, Turquoise Yachts managed to turn the project round in a record time of six months.

Mehmet Karabeyoglu, CEO of Turquoise, said, ”Apart from our experience and expertise, what we brought to the party was speed and flexibility. The owner wanted the boat for summer use, which gave us a narrow window of opportunity to finish the project. New ideas and alterations kept flooding in after work had commenced. Our ability to make decisions on the spot and adapt quickly without reams of red tape was key to the speed and success of the refit.”

According to Turquoise, the design stage of the project was a long process as a result of numerous alterations, leaving little time for the production itself. However, due to a good relationship between Turquoise and Mark Berryman Design, the project exceeded expectations and remained within the strict timeframe.

Matching of the old veneer and new implemented furniture colours was also an issue during the refit, along with the light fittings, which were difficult to get hold of after 15 years and had to be changed entirely to fit new polished chrome fixtures with LED bulbs.

Turquoise identified one of the most challenging areas as the bridge deck, where the large lobby had to be split into a corridor and new office. Here new walls were installed, along with a new fire alarm and sprinkler system.

There have been a number of enviable titles attached to this yacht over the years, including the largest yacht built in Holland, a title which she kept for 13 years, until 99m Madame Gu was delivered by Feadship. Not only is it the length of Indian Empress which keeps her at the top, but also her volume, which tips the scale at 3176gt, nine per cent higher than the average gt of all yachts between 90 and 100 metres.

Now 16 years on, Indian Empress is still an astounding spectacle with a unique yet timeless design, and an intriguing history behind her.

LOA: 95m

Beam: 15m

Gross tonnage: 3176

Builder: Oceanco

Year of delivery: 2000

Profile links

Oceanco

Turquoise Yachts

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