Here is your whistle stop tour of the some of the best yacht builders across Europe!
Northern Europe – Feadship & Lurssen
Northern Europe holds host to many of the world’s biggest and best shipyards, none more prestigious than Lurssen and Feadship. With Lurssen being based in Northern Germany, and Feadship, an all-Dutch company, the two industry superpowers are forces to be reckoned with.
The two shipyards hold themselves to similarly high standards as both are renowned for impeccably built, exquisitely designed yachts. This reputation has been forged over generations of new and innovative creations.
Lurssen was founded in 1875 and went on to build the world’s first motorboat in 1886. From then on, it began forging its high-end reputation for originality and quality products. Throughout the modern era of yachting, Lurssen has grown into one of the world’s most pioneering shipyards.
A key example of this is CARINTHIA VI was released to the world in 1973 and set a precedent for the new era of yacht design. To this day, CARINTHIA VI stands out as a modern and sophisticated yacht despite being almost 50 years old. This life span and build quality became a characteristic of the Lurssen name. Now, 145 years on from its conception, Lurssen stands for excellence and will continue to be a pioneer in the industry with groundbreaking concepts such as ALICE, their most recent design that was unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show 2021! https://www.lurssen.com/en/home/
However, all this history and prestige does come at a cost. As one of the most reliable names in the industry, owners have to pay top dollar for their services. For example, Lurssen has built both the longest yacht in the world (AZZAM) and the largest yacht by gross tonnage (DILBAR), with both being valued in excess of 500 million euros.
Feadship also boasts a prestigious history, and is held to much the same standards as Lurssen. However, Feadship was founded more recently in 1949. Nonetheless, the modern-day Feadship are responsible for some of the world’s highest quality yachts, such as VIVA displayed at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show. As far as build quality is concerned, Feadship pulls no punches with their longest build ANNA taking upwards of four years to build. This labour of love ensures the very highest quality, however similar to Lurssen, comes with a significant price tag.
With these Northern European icons of the industry, you get what you pay for and much, much more.
Italy – Benetti & Riva
Within the space of 20 years, the Italian superyacht market has changed drastically. In the past, the Italian superyacht sector was partially known for valuing aesthetics over quality, however, this has changed in the 21st century.
Benetti is one of the oldest companies in the industry, having been founded in 1873. As a result, they have been producing the highest quality yachts for decades. As the largest builder in Italy, Benetti is symbolic of class and excellence with the finest artistic design, as well as impressive build quality.
Benetti possesses all the heritage and prestige of the Northern European builders, however, is focused on a smaller size range than the likes of Lurssen; who prefer to focus on 80 metres plus yachts. Benetti originally found its niche in the 30-60 metre market, however, this may be changing with newly released Giga yachts such as IJE showing the world that Benetti has what it takes to build the biggest and best vessels on the ocean.
Riva is another example of yachting brilliance based in Italy. With a long and sophisticated history, Riva built its reputation on the back of its iconic Riva Aquarama line. The quintessentially Italian tender gave Riva an international platform with which they have moved into the superyacht sector. Products such as the Riva 110 Dolcevita, like our yacht for charter FIGURATI, provide a fine example of the quality of product Riva are known for today.
Turkey – Bilgin Yachts
Despite having been founded in 1900 and then officially taking the name of Bilgin Yachts in 1964, the Turkish shipyard only became an international supplier in 2002, and since then has grown exponentially. Still in the first 20 years of international development, Bilgin has begun producing some of the largest yachts on the market as well as some of the most luxurious. For example, delivered in 2016, GIAOLU LU is an exemplary illustration of what Bilgin is capable of – a sleek, modern and technologically capable yacht. It is clear that in the future this shipbuilder will become a large name in the industry ready to rival the Northern European giants.
These are just a few of Europe’s premium builders with other industry titans such as Nobiskrug, Oceanco and Heesen also producing some of the very best yachts on the ocean. These outstanding shipyards are sure to make more history in the coming years.
