Damen Lays Keel for 77-meter Expedition Yacht
On July 27 DAMEN SeaXplorer marked a milestone in the construction of the SeaXplorer 77 expedition yacht at a keel laying ceremony at Damen Shipyards Galati on the banks of the Danube. The owner attended the ceremony and welded the traditional coin on the keel. Following the hull building phase, the 77-meter luxury expedition yacht (253 ft) will arrive at Damen’s Vlissingen East yard in the Netherlands for completion and on-schedule delivery in Q4 2020.
The SeaXplorer 77 is a customized design from the DAMEN SeaXplorer range. The yacht accommodates 12 guests in six suites with full custom interiors, featuring luxury quality and finishing created by the owner’s choice of interior designer. The 25 crew, pilots and expedition staff operate the submersible, tenders, toys and two aircraft with a fully certified helideck and helicopter hangar.
“The SeaXplorer 77 is the largest of two projects we are currently constructing from our SeaXplorer range,” said Product Director Mark Vermeulen. “The SeaXplorer 77 shares the range’s core attributes: compliance with the IMO Polar Code, the long periods of autonomy at sea, and the crossover of superyacht luxury with professional capability. But the design incorporates many specific client requirements such as his passion for heliskiing.”
The construction of SeaXplorer 77 leverages the Damen Shipyard Group’s global strength, combining:
- Overall management from Damen’s yachting headquarters in Vlissingen in cooperation with superyacht builder AMELS, part of Damen since 1991
- SeaXplorer design and engineering at Damen Shipyards Gorinchem in the Netherlands
- Hull building at Damen Shipyards Galati. The yard’s almost 4,000 employees work on many of Damen’s most important projects to date including the 160-meter IMO Polar Code category-compliant Australian Antarctic Division research ship NUYINA.
- Final construction and outfitting at Damen’s Vlissingen East yard, located a few kilometers from the Vlissingen City yard where AMELS operates. A commercial and naval shipyard at heart, Vlissingen East is an integral part of our yacht building and refit offering. Indeed, a number of superyacht refit projects for yachts measuring over 90 meters have already been completed here.