The 121-footer (37-meter) that Moonen Shipyards has been completing on spec heads into May under contract. She’s still just called a Moonen Martinique, her series name. However, she’s also heading rapidly toward completion, with launch in a few weeks.
Moonen is keeping quiet on most of the details at this point. It does say, though, that the megayacht makes her formal public debut at the autumn boat shows in Cannes and Monaco. Also, as expected, the owners are personalizing various parts of the interior design.
The Moonen Martinique is part of the Caribbean series, which the Dutch builder introduced in 2014. She began build in 2015, under a buyer’s guidance. Unfortunately, that buyer backed out of the contract due to business constraints. Moonen decided to keep construction going on spec and seek a new client.
The shipyard did so because it felt confident the market would welcome a steel-hulled megayacht of her size and volume. (Gross tonnage is 350.) If you examine the marketplace, the shipyard’s assertion may seem odd. Most projects in this size range are fiberglass. Even though a small portion is also aluminum, steel is essentially nowhere to be found. The reason is because buyers of similar-size yachts tend to pursue Bahamian cruising. Therefore, they need shallow-draft boats—and steel-hulled megayacht drafts tend to be too deep. However, thanks to naval architecture by Diana Yacht Design, the Moonen Martinique will still allow Bahamian cruising. Draft should be seven feet (2.1 meters).
Expected to see a maximum speed of 17 knots, the Moonen Martinique puts plenty of relaxation spaces at her owners’ disposal. Guest and crew areas total about 3,121 square feet (290 square meters), for instance. Twelve people in the owners’ party get five staterooms. Outside, meanwhile, 1,937 square feet (180 square meters) of usable space awaits. Then, of course, the Moonen Martinique can keep several toys in the tender garage for more fun.
While Moonen puts the finishing touches on this project, it’s already planning the next. It’s starting construction on hull number two in the Martinique series.
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