The article begins, “Your average container ship could never be described as luxurious, but the Kilkea is not your average container ship.” Indeed. And it never was. Several other media sources also describe the yacht as a “converted container ship.” It is not. Apparently, container ships are now sufficiently ubiquitous that anything that floats seems to qualify.
In fact, the luxury yacht Kilkea will be a converted Platform Supply Vessel (PSV), not a container ship. Unlike most luxury yachts the Kilkea is designed to operate as an”expedition yacht” capable of going virtually anywhere on the globe. While not an icebreaker, the yacht is reportedly ice-classed. It features a helicopter hangar and pad and is capable of operating for 30 days without resupply.
The 268′ long yacht is being built on a Vard 1-08 PSV, the workhorse design now deployed serving oil and gas platforms around the world. Kilkea is a joint project of Vard shipyards, Fincantieri Yachts and Shackleton Superyachts with U.K. yacht designers Bannenberg & Rowell Designs designing the exterior and interior.
The yacht has a cruising speed of 12 knots and has 18 passenger cabins.
Beyond the confusion related to calling a PSV a container ship, the quoted cost of the yacht has appeared as $62 million USD, while it is also being listed for sale at $72 million USD.
The $62m luxury yacht converted from a container ship
Thanks to Alan Rice for contributing to this post.
High Rick. In a search for information on the U.S.S. Ford’s electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), I came across your very encouraging article explaining that EMALS was the least of Ford’s problems and it was all a Trump misunderstanding (actually, you called it “willful ignorance”). That was great news because earlier articles I read indicated that – in contrast to more tractable problems that might be overcome in time – EMALS suffers from a fundamental and unanticipated problem; namely that there is no way to repair one catapult safely without shutting down all 4 systems.
But then I saw this article – which seems to focus on the stupidity of people who use the wrong term for a supply ship. That got we wondering if you are just a bone headed smarty pants and that the EMALS issues might be serious afterall.
Can you let us know which it is? Thanks.
Hey Randall,
Don’t you have something better to do? If you don’t like what he writes, just go away.
Hi Greg. Maybe you should show me how it’s done.
But before you do, please answer my EMALS question if you know. My interest is serious and my question whether Rick is just a snarky know-it-all is sincere.