Radiant Yacht

Radiant Yacht

Radiant is a yacht right out of a 007 James Bond movie. Somali pirates beware. Radiant is equipped with the mother-of-all water cannons that can sink a skiff while it is still a hundred yards away from the yacht. Radiant also has powerful sonic cannons that fire low-frequency sound waves to blow out the eardrums of any approaching pirate.

And if the cannons fail and the pirates board the yacht, Radiant's James Bond can escape by jumping through an emergency hatch and into a turbo-charged twin diesel engine speedboat that can scream away at 75 knots, which is 86 miles per hour.

Who would commission a yacht with such features?

Radiant's 007 is Boris Berezovsky, a Russian oligarch who commissioned Radiant to outdo Pelorus, the exceptionally pretty megayacht commissioned by his nemesis and Russian compatriot, Roman Abramovich, who owns the 533-foot megayacht Eclipse.

Berezovsky, however, ran into financial difficulties in 2009 and sold Radiant for $300 million (240 million euros) before it was even completed to Abdullah al Futtaim, the owner of 60+ companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Al Futtaim Motors, which accounts for 40% of UAE's car sales.

Radiant can accommodate eighteen guests in nine luxury suites, as well as a crew of forty-two who live aboard the yacht year-around. This 5,027 ton, 361 foot (110 meter)-long yacht is powered by two MTU 8,715 horse power diesel engines that give it a top speed of 21 knots. The yacht is also equipped with zero speed stabilizers, a helipad, a swimming pool, a spa, a hot tub, a fitness center, and a movie theater, as well as the security features mentioned above.

The interior of Radiant was designed by Terence Disdale and Glen Pushelberg. Its exterior was designed by Tim Heywood, and the yacht was built by Germany's Bremen-based Lürssen Yachts, which also built Paul Allen's Octopus, David Geffen's Rising Sun, and Alisher Usmanov's Dilbar II.

How much should Al Futtaim have paid for Radiant?

Click here, and also see Gigayacht.