Feadship’s latest 55m explorer yacht M/Y Shinkai has been moved from the Feadship yard in Aalsmeer to the outside dock in preparation for her delivery later this year. The owner is said to be an experienced mariner looking to gain even more time exploring the world's most remote corners by sea.

The state-of-the-art superyacht boasts a number of unique features, most striking of which is the 7.2 tonne submarine which sits on the aft deck along with an enormous crane for launching and collection. Designer Philippe Briand along with the teams at Vitruvius and Feadship are the brains behind creating this highly custom self-sufficient and fuel-efficient vessel.

The owner previously expressed his desire to complete a North-West passage with his new superyacht. For that reason, Feadship’s steel hull has been built to ice class and includes an advanced WASSP sonar system to explore the ocean floor. Feadship have announced that Shinkai is not being fitted with traditional stabiliser fins as they could potentially hinder the ability to retrieve the submarine in certain seas. For the first time on a yacht of this size, a gyroscope system has been fitted within the hull, with the tank deck arranged in such a way to enable traditional stabilisers to also be installed later if required.

Measuring 3x3 metres and weighing a hefty 23 tonnes, the gyro is the largest unit built to date and a heavy piece of equipment for a yacht built to go very far on a 140,000 litre fuel tank. Additional weight also had to be accounted for due to the sizeable submarine and massive crane required to lift 7400 kg when manned. The crane has an outreach of almost eight metres and will also be used to launch Project Shinkai’s limousine tender and lift the owner’s car and its crate from the aft deck to the shore. 

‘Comfortable’ was an important facet of the brief for the interior which was completed through close collaboration between the owners and Boutsen Design. 

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