I had wanted to take pictures of a visiting yacht from Russia. Unfortunately, the
pictures are set in dense fog so you will have to use your imagination about how
large it is. I mean, really use your imagination!
The yacht has been teasing the beach goers in Malibu and is the talk of the area.
It belongs to a Russian billionaire named Andrey Melnichenko. The yacht has a
price tag of over $300 million! Yes, that’s $300,000,000! The “boats” name is
“A” and it is huge.
Because it was a distance from shore (and in pea soup fog) it’s hard to get a sense
of how large the “boat” really is.
out. I decided to take a picture anyway and even though it’s quite a distance out
you can get a better idea of what it looks like on a pretty day.
The little boats that are next to the large "boat" are really very good size yachts!!!
They just look small because of the size of the huge Russian yacht.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Baccarat Meets
Bomb-proof Glass on High Seas”, the yacht boasts "three pools including a
high powered jet pool for laps that can be switched from salt to fresh water.
Instead of the usual overstuffed couches and mahogany walls, there are
Baccarat-crystal tables, shiny white finishes and polished silver, a kind of
Manhattan-loft-meets-Vegas aesthetic. The walls of one room are covered in
white sting-ray hides, while another is covered in hand stitched calf's leather.
The main deck features two Michael Haillard chairs made from alligator hides
and Kudo horns". And that is just a brief description. Believe me, the list
goes on and on.
Did I mention the owner is just 38 years old? The rumor around Malibu is
Andrey is talking to film producers. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but that’s
the rumor.
Did I mention it costs $500,000 to just fill the fuel tank?
Did I mention it has a heliport?
Here is a picture from the news (I won't torture you anymore with my pea-soup
fog pictures) and a little more information...
"A crew of tactical yacht cleaners could be seen repelling down one side of the sea ship like a scene out of a James Bond film as local surfers and paddle boarders gazed at the massive submarine-like vessel in awe. The yacht costs over $20 million per year to maintain and filling the tank with fuel will cost more than $500,000. The ship's two main landing boats are mini-yachts, stretching 36 feet each with plush interiors and costing more than $1 million each. Features include; 23,600 square feet of living space, an all-white, 2,583-square-foot master suite wrapped in bomb-proof, 44-milimeter glass, bomb-proof wrap-around glass encasing the master suite, hydraulic gangways, transom door in the rear of the boat, which swings with open to become a swim deck, numerous garages to store additional vessels. Like many Russian-owned yachts, the "A" is highly secure. Its rounded exterior and knife-like hull make it difficult for intruders to board. Numerous security cameras and more than a dozen exterior cameras fitted with motion-detection systems and a night-vision infrared system. Designed to outrun threats: Twin, high-speed diesel engines deliver 24,000 horsepower and push the 5,959-gross-ton ship to 24 knots, roughly a third faster than most boats its size. The boat is stabilized by fiber-optic gyroscopes and four giant motorized flaps.
The "A" has a crew of between 35 to 37 people, including stewards and stewardesses, mechanical engineers, security staff, housekeepers, deck hands, galley crew and chefs. The crew also has specialists for surfing, jet skiing, water skiing and cycling. All of the crew wear Starck-designed uniforms."
But the question is....do you think it's pretty or pretty ugly? Everyone seems
to have an opinion. How about you?
