Ukraine’s Super Yacht
The Mykolayiv-based small-tonnage shipyard has built Ukraine’s first Best-19 aluminum-magnesium high-speed yacht. The yacht, recently presented at the city yacht club, is intended for river and coastal sea cruising.
The yacht almost twenty meters long can run at almost thirty knots, quite a high speed for this kind of vessel. The cruising range is about 360 miles (670 km) and self-sustained endurance is ten days, for the yacht is equipped with a water-desalination plant.
The yacht is furnished with state-of-the-art control devices, including a satellite navigation antenna, radio navigation equipment, a magnetic compass, a log, an echo-sounder, and other installations that will make cruising pleasant and safe.
Actually, the yacht provides highly comfortable conditions for a three-men crew and five passengers. The latter can stay in four two-bunk cabins designed and finished in the most up-to-date style.
Rosewood furniture, mirrors, lighting, air conditioners, cupboards, a safe to store weapons, toilets, shower cubicles, and even a sauna are only some of the conveniences available on this super yacht. The galley is also equipped first-rate, with a four-burner electric stove and microwave oven. The stateroom has not only a television, music system, and many other fine things, but also a home movie system and an icemaker.
Although it is the first Best-class yacht built at the shipyard, deputy chairman of the company’s board of directors Volodymyr Yakovlev said the enterprise had already received two orders from foreign businessmen, while a far larger number of people simply expressed interest in the project. This luxury vessel costs, depending on the configuration, from $800,000 to $1,200,000 US. The first high-speed motor yacht will soon set sail to Russia and be handed over to its legal owner.
The shipyard management places great hopes in the commercial production oftugboats, auxiliary, and special- purpose vessels.
The Mykolayiv Small-Tonnage Shipyard is also contributing to reviving Ukraine’s specialized fleet. The first swallow in this endeavor was a BGD- 180 type large hydrographic boat handed over to the customer, the state-run Hydrography department. This is the first out of the four vessels designed to carry out hydrographic explorations and maintenance of buoys, beacons and other navigational equipment. The vessels of this series are intended to serve Mykolayiv, Kerch, Odesa, and Sevastopol. The second hydrographic boat is already under construction.
