Moonen Shipyards has been commissioned for a unique project to finish a 120 ft yacht designed by Bill Dixon which was started by Royal Denship in Denmark before bankruptcy. Around a quarter of the semi-displacement motoryacht had been completed when the Danish yard went into administration in June 2009.
The owner of the uncompleted vessel contacted Moonen due to the yard’s growing reputation in the refit market as well as its fine track record of building new superyachts. “Due to the status of the project at the time it was abandoned, the completion of the yacht is a delicate balance between a new build and a refit,” explains Moonen’s director operations Mark Vermeulen.
“Various parts of the build are at different stages, as is the case with a refit. We have to pick up both the physical construction work and fill significant gaps in the engineering packages. This will require full range of expertise and it is the type of challenge that everyone at Moonen relishes.” The fact that it concerns a motoryacht that yet had to be completed and the fact that composite is not the material that Moonens builds her reputation on, the project needed a “Think different”-approach.
The interior styling is in the hands of the owner, and the yard is also partnering with external parties such as composite experts Green Marine, Alewijnse for the electrical installation and De Leeuw Yacht services for the painting.
One of the major issues for Moonen is that the yard has never previously built a yacht in GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic). All the GRP parts of the vessel are available except the main deck, with the hull and bridge deck being almost completely assembled. Around 20 percent of the equipment is available, including the main engines, gearboxes and other small components.
Moonen has already carried out a complete design and status check, which made clear that the engineering packages were randomly incomplete. After these have been closed, the yard will make a start with building the stern section of the hull while simultaneously completing the technical installation. The yacht is planned for launching in May 2011.