Yacht LivaO Marks Historic Abeking & Rasmussen Moment: Sunday Superyacht Video

With a rich black hull plus styling and interior design from a studio with no yachting experience, the yacht LivaO is significant. She’s additionally momentous for being the largest delivery so far from Abeking & Rasmussen.

During construction, the nearly 388-footer (118-meter) went by her hull number, Abeking & Rasmussen 6507, as well as Project Celerius. Joseph Dirand Architecture, based in Paris, benefited from the owner’s confidence. When it came to yachting, though, “we had zero knowledge,” Dirand says, “just desire and passion.” He and his team therefore worked quite closely with Abeking & Rasmussen to ensure that not just aesthetics, but also engineering worked.

For instance, the guiding principle for the overall look was a clean profile, a combination of classicism and contemporary appeal. Considering yachts need deck and hull gear, which are utilitarian first and foremost, the studio and the shipyard needed to rethink certain practices that are essentially de rigeur. Specifically, the duo developed an underwater anchor, to replace traditional anchor pockets. Abeking & Rasmussen says it was “a huge challenge” to develop and deliver hidden technical necessities like this.

Yet another challenge came with the primary tender garage, on the lower deck. It stows no ordinary craft: a 52-foot (16-meter) dayboat. A further tender garage sits within the forward portion of the main deck, with a fair share of large toys, too. It holds three tenders, a seven-person Triton submersible, bikes, dive gear, and more.

The yacht LivaO is remarkable elsewhere as well. An 11- by 4-foot (3.4- by 1.3-meter) underwater window characterizes her aptly called Neptune Lounge, for example. Guests can see fish and other sea life that they ordinarily would need to use snorkeling and dive gear to witness. High up top, meanwhile, a crow’s nest provides a bird’s-eye view of the surroundings. The liquid-marble-clad floor of the large pool on the main deck can rise one level up, lending the illusion of the water’s surface in that position. The walls of the pool further feature marble. Finally, a marble fireplace accompanies a seating area forward on the sundeck, for days when the owner and guests are in chillier climes.

The yacht LivaO is about to undertake global cruising with a highly engineered diesel-electric system within her hull. It relies on electric motors and Caterpillar gensets (two mains and three auxiliary units). Four Voith thrusters will aid in maneuvering without contributing to noise pollution.

“I have been obsessed by this project during all those years, and it is the opportunity of my life to design a boat like this,” Dirand reflects. “It is my turn to thank the shipyard for being such a great partner in the realization of this dream.”

Abeking & Rasmussen abeking.com

Joseph Dirand Architecture josephdirand.com