06 mai 2024
News
News
06 May 2024
The 118.8-metre flagship Feadship 821 superyacht has been launched from the Amsterdam facility in the Netherlands, with the SuperYacht Times team in attendance. Project 821 is currently being offered for sale by Edmiston.
The steel and aluminium superyacht is the largest yacht to be built by Feadship, and the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell superyacht. Construction began on Feadship Project 821 in 2019, with the secretive yacht spotted in transit to her final build hall in April 2022.
The Feadship 821 yacht has been designed by RWD, which were responsible for her exterior and interior décor, with owners representation by Edmiston. She now takes the spot as the largest motor yacht launched in the Netherlands, just edging out the recently delivered 118-metre Feadship 1010 superyacht Launchpad.
“RWD are immensely proud to have been involved in such a forward thinking project, as a collaboration alongside Feadship and Edmiston. We hope it inspires other projects to think differently in the future,” added Charlie Baker, Director of RWD.
Project 821 is the first Feadship yacht to be powered by a pure green hydrogen fuel source. She is the result of Feadship’s continued company pledge to develop "net zero" yachts by 2030.
"The aim has been to develop a new, clean technology not just for this project, but for the world," said Jan-Bart Verkuyl, Feadship Director and CEO of the Royal Van Lent Shipyard.
There were no regulations for hydrogen storage and fuel-cell systems at class, flag-state or even IMO level, which led Feadship, Edmiston and Lloyd's Register to develop appropriately scaled equipment, protocols and safety regulations simultaneously.
"The value of the research as well the development of class and flag safety regulations for an entirely new type of energy generation is an advancement we are proud to have made available to all," added Jan-Bart Verkuyl. “Next year, for example, two long-route Norwegian passenger and car ferries will enter into service utilising the system pioneered with PowerCell Group for Project 821.”
Feadship 821 is characterised by a five-deck configuration above the waterline and two below, with her owners' deck sitting 37-metres above water. She also has the most hull openings of any Feadship to-date, including 14 slide-out balconies, five massive shell doors, and seven large opening platforms, all of which increase her connection to the sea.
Her balconies are unnoticeable when closed but slide out at the touch of a button, carrying with them their side railings or walls. When fully deployed, their floors rise to become perfectly level with the interior room.
The flagship Feadship 821 yacht has been designed for family use, with her owner’s deck situated above the bridge deck. The apartment style suite consists of two staterooms, twin bathrooms and dressing rooms, a gym, a pantry, two offices each with a fireplace, and a lounge area.
There are twelve guest staterooms in total, making a total possible accommodation for thirty in the owner's party, although the eight guest staterooms on the main deck level combine into four exceptional VIPs. There are also two staff cabins, a dedicated hospital and accommodation for 44 crew.
Feadship 821 boasts an impressive 19-metre beam, which allows for wide corridors inside, and spacious sidedecks outside, meaning guests are able to walk side-by-side. Her owner’s deck also includes a full walkaround deck, with shaded areas forward and aft, as well as a forward Jacuzzi.
The owner’s accommodation also extends to the lower deck, with the addition of a unique and completely private vertical corridor, which includes a spacious staircase lined with bookshelves and display nooks and an owners' elevator.
Other unique locations onboard include a coffee corner and games niche on the bridge deck, a library on the main deck, and a private dining room with a sea terrace and adjacent ensuite stateroom on the lower deck.
UK-based design studio RWD used a palette of light neutral colours throughout, with the addition of textured fabrics and leathers, marble, rattan, fumed and taupe eucalyptus and limed oak. The overall design creates the feeling of a luxe coastal vibe, with details such as door trim and hallway railings repeating across each deck in various materials.
The exterior of the Feadship 821 superyacht is characterised by a large beach club to the aft of the vessel with sweeping companionways leading down to her expansive swim platform.
One of the biggest problems the team faced in building Feadship 821 would be developing a reasonable way to store compressed liquid hydrogen below deck at -253°C. Feadship invested in technology to make the transition away from fossil fuels, as when hydrogen is processed in a fuel cell, the only by-products are electricity and water in the form of steam.
To safely store hydrogen on a yacht, a vessel requires a double-walled cryogenic storage tank, which acts as a well-insulated cooling box in a dedicated room. Together, it takes eight to ten times more space to store hydrogen than the energy equivalent in diesel fuel.
In total, the cryogenic fuel tank onboard Feadship 821 is capable of holding 92 square-metres of hydrogen. Paired with their switchboard connection to the DC electrical grid, and the vent stacks for the escaping water vapour, this added an additional four-metres to the yacht’s original specifications.
Importantly, the fuel cells developed for Project 821 can also use easier-to-store methanol, a liquid fuel in ambient conditions. Steam reforms methanol into hydrogen before the electrochemical reaction in the fuel cell.
"We have now shown that cryogenic storage of liquified hydrogen in the interior of a superyacht is a viable solution. Future innovations on fuel cells and onboard reforming of methanol to hydrogen are on the near horizon,” added Jan-Bart Verkuyl.
“For Feadship, the bottom line is that the decarbonisation of Feadship's upstream process, such as our extensive use of aluminium produced in a more environmentally sensitive way and the production of net-zero carbon-free fuels or hydrogen carriers deserves utmost priority."
According to the Yacht Environmental Transparency Index (YETI), 70-78 percent of a yacht's total energy use per year is to supply its hotel load, with heating and air conditioning making the largest demands. Although Project 821 cannot carry enough liquid hydrogen to power a crossing, it can generate enough electricity to serve her hotel load.
For longer travels or when pure hydrogen is not available, the electricity powering the 3,200 kW ABB pod drives comes from MTU generators combusting HVO (Hydro-treated vegetable oil). The validity of powering the yacht's generators with HVO was tested and proven on the 2023 Feadship, Obsidian.
In terms of storing energy, Project 821 stores a mere 543 kW hours, as her fuel cell technology can provide an entire week's worth of silent operation at anchor or navigating emission-free at 10 knots.
She features Feadship’s most efficient waste heat recovery system, which is capable of heating her pool, Jacuzzi and steam room, as well as the air temperature, towel bars and floors in the guest bathrooms. Further savings in the hotel load will come from a Smart AC system linking sensors to an energy management system that automatically reduces air conditioning or heating in unoccupied guest spaces.
"The brief was to build the greenest and most environmentally advanced yacht ever built, without compromise,” commented Jamie Edmiston, Chief Executive of Edmiston. “It was a huge challenge, but one that the team has embraced and delivered on. The yacht we see today, designed by RWD and built by Feadship is without doubt the best yacht ever built. I am proud to have been involved since the inception of this idea.”
According to SYT iQ, Feadship currently has several yachts in-build including the 100-metre Feadship 824 and the 91.8-metre hybrid-electric superyacht Feadship 1012, which was launched last month.
Written by Sophie Spicknell
© Superyachttimes
