Locals in Lemwerder, Germany saw June conclude with an impressive sight. The 446-foot (136-meter) megayacht code named Project Thunder arrive back at the Lürssen facility there the last day of the month.
While Project Thunder saw construction take place in Lemwerder, she moved to Hamburg last October. In fact, she arrived at the site of the former Blohm+Voss shipyard, which Lürssen acquired about a year prior. Interior fit-out and other tasks took place while in Hamburg. She’s reportedly relatively traditional in appearance. No illustrations or photos have surfaced, though.
Project Thunder has been on yacht watchers’ and the media’s radar since 2015. That’s when the builder transferred her, as a bare metal structure, from one shed to another in Lemwerder. Few facts have come out about the mostly secretive superyacht. At her launch in April 2017, Lürssen confirmed her LOA exceeded 120 meters, or about 394 feet. Publicly available AIS transmission data displayed it as the above-mentioned 446 feet several weeks later. The shipyard additionally confirmed Espen Øino behind her striking styling. It’s hard to miss the nearly three-deck-high, vertical glass panels around amidships, for instance. There are also substantial openings aft on the main side decks.
Furthermore, Lürssen explained the project name. “Thunder” is a reference to the god of thunder in Chinese mythology, Lei Gong. According to Daoist beliefs, Lei Gong punishes both humans and spirits using their knowledge of Daoism to harm humans. Finally, given the reference to Chinese mythology, it should come as no surprise that Project Thunder will cruise primarily in Asian waters.
Those cruises should begin later this year. In the meantime, see what Lemwerder locals got to see just a few days ago.
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