Yacht Azzam: 5 Interesting Facts

We love a story here at Superyacht Content and Superyacht Azzam has a story to tell. Here are 5 interesting facts about her that some will know, some may not.

She’s A Big Yacht!

Yes, we know this is pretty obvious but Yacht Azzam was originally built to be the world’s largest yacht (a title she held until 2019). Originally designed to be 145m she only grew to be 180m during “optimisation”. Basically, this means that all the things the owner wanted her to have would not fit into 140m! So, during the design and build process, she grew. But, she is very well proportioned and does not look her size until you are close up and realise those are not ants on deck, they are the crew!

She’s One Of The World’s Fastest Superyachts!

Waterline length is proportional to the overall speed a yacht can achieve. However, waterline length is nothing without power and we will come to that in a minute. At the time of sea trials in 2013, Yacht Azzam managed a stunning top speed of 32 knots. This made her the fastest “mega-yacht” (over 100m) at the time. Still fast by today’s standards.

She’s Powerful!

As we said above, speed is not all about waterline length. Not even just about hull form. It is a LOT to do with power and Yacht Azzam has quite a bit of that. She has 2 x MTU diesels and two gas turbines. Combined they produce 97,000hp. Yes, you read that right, 97,000 hp. WOW! She burns 13 tonnes of fuel per hour at top speed which is enough to fill 309 average size cars with fuel.

She Was Expensive!

Not only was Yacht Azzam expensive to build (reputed to have cost in excess of $500m) but she will also cost an eye-watering amount to run on an annual basis. She holds approximately 1,000,000 liters of fuel and carries a crew of between 60 and 80. How does an annual budget of $25,000,000 sound?

She’s A Looker!

Yacht Azzam was designed by Italian studio Nauta, well known for some of the most beautiful sailing yachts afloat and more recently some striking Motor yachts. The brief always had speed in mind and she was designed as a 30+ knot yacht. A lot of this is apparent in her styling as she looks sleek rather than voluminous. But, we feel this is what gives her the style she is so well known for.

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