Say goodbye to stately style and hello to L.A. looks: Helios, the 194-foot Oceanco (whose name means god of the sun), is in the midst of a six-month refit at Knight & Carver that should make her guests do exactly that.
Unfortunately, the sketch above doesn’t show much detail or, from what I’m told, do the megayacht’s planned new look justice. But if you compare it to the photo of her saloon, you’ll see full well that she’s undergoing a dramatic change. The scope of the work includes completely stripping the saloon and all six staterooms as well as the 500-square-foot sundeck. According to her captain, Tommy Gurr, “It’s going to be a floating beach house, totally chic, edgy, and contemporary.”
Already three months into the project, there are upwards of 100 full-time craftsmen performing the transformation. HF Interior, a Swedish company that typically oversees cruise-ship projects, is collaborating with dozens of workers from Knight & Carver as well as subcontractors. (And just when you thought you were jaded about a 194-footer’s size as compared to other, newer megayachts: HF’s managing director, Curt Biller, says, “This is our biggest project on what we’d term a smaller boat.”) On any given day steelworkers are working on one part of Helios while carpenters are plying their trade at another end.
Once Helios departs Knight & Carver in January, also with a new exterior paint job and systems upgrades, she’ll remain in Pacific waters.
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