Luna Yacht

Luna Yacht

This mountain of a yacht is Luna, a 5,500 ton, 377 foot (111 meter)-long expedition yacht built for the pleasure of just eighteen guests in nine cabins, to be served by a crew of forty-nine in twenty-five cabins. This megayacht has a fitness center, a spacious beach club that wraps around a large plunge pool and a spa, and two helipads.

Luna is powered by seven diesel electric motors that generate a total of 15,000 horse power, giving it a top speed of 19 knots, and can carry one million liters of fuel, which give this expedition yacht a range of 9,500 nautical miles.

What is an "expedition" yacht?

It's simply a yacht geared to "expeditions" or explorations. Luna has a slightly longer range than the other megayachts of its size and doesn't require as many port calls to re-fuel. Luna is being hailed the world's largest expedition but the classification may have been coined to bestow the superlative.

Luna was commissioned by and delivered in 2010 to Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who also commissioned the 533 foot-long megayacht Eclipse, which he still owns, and the 377 foot-long Pelorus.

The interior of Luna was designed by Donald Starkey. Its exterior was designed by Newcruise Design, and the yacht was built by the Bremerhaven, Germany-based Lloyd Werft and Stahlbau Nord shipyards.

In 2014, Abramovich sold Luna for $300 million (240 million euros) to Farkhad Akhmedov, an Azerbaijan-born Russian oligarch, who subsequently spent an additional $50 million to repaint and lengthen the yacht by two meters, fair the hull, overhaul the engines, add larger windows, refurbish the spa and beach club area, and replace all tenders (small boats that ferry people to the shore).

Who overspent - Abramovich or Akhmedov?

The answer depends on your perspective. If you believe their wealth was "self-made," click here. If you believe they were blessed with it, see million dollar yachts.