Superyacht Lusine owned by Emirates Group founder and Dubai's Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum moors up on River Thames opposite Gravesend
Published: 11:08, 17 February 2022
Updated: 12:47, 21 February 2022
River watchers have been treated to a touch of luxury after a superyacht owned by a Dubai Sheikh moored up opposite Gravesend.
The $70 million (£51.5m) Lusine, which is owned by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, arrived at Tilbury on Tuesday after a 12-and-a-half hour journey from Rotterdam.
Despite her sleek look, she is classed as a houseboat and sailing under the flag of the Cayman Islands.
Sheikh Ahmed is one of the richest men in the world and is the founder and chief executive of the Emirates Group
According to superyacht experts www.boatinternational.com, Lusine was built by Dutch shipyard Heesen and is the firm’s largest steel superyacht to date.
At 60 metres long, she was sold in February 2018 and is the fourth largest superyacht launched by Heesen. The first was the 80m Galactica followed by the 70m Galactica Super Nova and the 65m Galactica Star.
Her exterior, described as “clean and chiselled”, has been styled to resemble a bird's wing. It was designed by Omega Architects.
Inside is the work of Dutch studio Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design. There's accommodation for up to 16 guests over seven cabins, including an upper deck master suite with its own private deck.
And there's enough space in the crew quarters for up to 14 people.
She has a top speed of 17.5 knots and a transatlantic range of 4,200 nautical miles if you trim it back to 13 knots, thanks to an ultra-efficient fast displacement hull form.
Superyachts are all given a project name during construction before their official naming ceremony which happens at the launch. This one was called Project Falcon before becoming Lusine.
Also spotted on the river today was HNLMS Tromp, which sailed past Gravesend at 12.15pm.
The military ops vessel, which is 144 metres long, left Den Helder, in the Netherlands, on Monday.
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Nikki White