The code-named Project Antares marked another major milestone in May. About a month after she gained an owner, she saw her superstructure and hull welded together.
Also known as Heesen YN 18455, Project Antares is a 181-foot (55-meter) megayacht, part of the builder’s 55M Steel series. To that point, she has a fast-displacement hull design. Heesen and the Van Oossanen Naval Architects studio expect her to see a 13-knot cruise and 16-knot maximum speed, burning less fuel throughout the speed range compared to traditional semidisplacement megayachts. She’ll do so under MTU power—the powerplants of which saw installation when the hull and superstructure joined, too. In addition, Project Antares will be capable of transatlantic crossings, with a 4,500-nautical-mile range at her cruising speed.
All of those performance parameters are particularly important to this owner. Project Antares is an American who’s passionate about fishing. She’ll serve a mothership role to a mini armada of sportfishing boats, in fact. In addition, Project Antares will actually be able to refuel two of the sportfishing boats when they’re out and about chasing big game together.
That isn’t the only thing making the megayacht stand apart, particularly from other projects in the Heesen series. (Those projects include Azamanta, handed over last year, and Project Alida, awaiting delivery.) Originally, when Project Antares started on spec, interior designer Francesco Paszkowski penned the master suite to encompass 667 square feet (62 square meters). Now, it’s 861 square feet (80 square meters). In addition, as you would expect, other areas onboard are changing according to the owner’s wishes. These include the lobby and the sky lounge. Paszkowski and Margherita Casprini, who works with him on nearly all projects, are striving for “lavish luxury,” he explains.
At a voluminous 740 gross tons, Project Antares is still set for delivery in November of next year.
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