It is rare that the market gets a chance to compare and contrast two brand new deliveries from the two giga-builders from Holland and Germany, Oceanco and Lürssen. At this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, those lucky enough to get on board will be able to tour M/Y Nixie from Lürssen and M/Y Leviathan from Oceanco in the same window of opportunity.

Yes, there will be plenty of other projects to tour and explore, especially the new duo from Turquoise Yachts, the latest 70-metre-plus Sanlorenzo and whatever Feadship has on display, but we intend to capitalise on this unique moment and share our opinions on the differences and nuances between Oceanco and Lürssen by being able to tour their two latest new builds almost side by side.

In terms of comparison, Leviathan, at 111 metres LOA, is of huge interest for so many reasons. It’s the latest new build, delivered for the current owner/investor of Oceanco, Mr Gabe Newell, but more importantly much has been shared about the operational focus on the project. The yacht’s design philosophy has focused on the crew logistics, operations and service layouts to ensure that guest support and interaction is more efficient and effective throughout the yacht. This topic has been a huge part of recent essays, discussions and workshops, and it may be that Leviathan sets a new benchmark in terms of yacht operations and design culture.

Nixie, at just over 102 metres, is one of six new builds delivered by Lürssen in 2026, a remarkable achievement in this giga-sector. It may only be nine metres shorter than Leviathan, but is approximately 1,600gt smaller by volume and this is where the comparison may become interesting – to see what the two yachts feel like and what they deliver within their overall structure.

Leviathan – images courtesy of Oceanco

Nixie – image credit: © André Konarske

The opportunity to tour both projects within perhaps 24 hours of each other and compare and contrast not only their unique features, but to be able to identify what makes them a Lürssen or Oceanco, or understand some of their technical achievements and innovations, will make for an interesting visit and alone almost worth visiting Monaco Yacht Show for this year.

Between now and Monaco, it will be revealing to watch Nixie’s story unfold, as the vessel is currently subject to a high court case between yacht broker Cecil Wright & Partners and the new owner, Nik Storonsky, over an alleged unpaid introductory fee of some 17.5 million euros. No doubt this will be a big subject on the docks of Port Hercule next month and one we will be investigating further, to better understand the term “effective cause” and how the idea of suggesting a particular project to a potential client can justify a 5 per cent commission. Perhaps the case history of Edmiston vs Beresovksy, another 100-metre-plus Lürssen where M/Y Radius was the subject of another attempt to bypass the broker, will be applied by Cecil Wright’s lawyers; in this 2009 case the judge ruled in favour of the broker.

Anyway, we will be busy on the docks discussing this topic and many more, but perhaps more importantly, enjoying extended tours of these two incredible leviathans of the deep.

Profile links

Oceanco

Lürssen

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