Concept yachts live and, most often than not, die on the virtual paper they’re born on. But this is one concept that has the perfect team behind it, holds incredible promise, and stands out for its exquisite, memorable silhouette, so it would be a shame if it suffered the same fate.
Just because the world’s one-percenters can – and do – spend their time in ways completely inaccessible to regular folk, including onboard multi-million custom superyachts, doesn’t mean that they don’t spare a thought for the environment. They do, whether they like it or not.
Oceanco is one of the most famous, exclusive and famous shipyards in the world, and that’s not an exaggeration. With a roster of clients that includes Russian oligarchs and U.S. billionaires like Jeff Bezos (allegedly) and a tradition of keeping every detail of the build under wraps unless the owner explicitly agrees to reveal anything, Oceanco is the to-go place if you want something truly unique in terms of leisure watercraft.
Just to be clear, Oceanco doesn’t build boats or yachts. That would be too mundane, too gauche. Oceanco builds only custom displacement yachts in the 260-foot (80-meter) range and above, which means it can pick and choose which customers it will work with. For the kind of money they change hands with each new Oceanco build – and we’re taking hundreds of millions of dollars at a time – you’d be excused if you assumed that they cared very little about the environment.
Photo: Oceanco
But profit means nothing if we don’t have a world to live in anymore: Oceanco has long joined the list of established builders looking to incorporate more sustainable features into their vessels. The latest is a concept only for the time being, but it’s meant to represent the future of luxury yachting, as seen through the eyes of the team at Oceanco and their partners.
That concept is called Aeolus, named so after the Greek god of wind – the divine keeper of the winds, to be more specific. Aeolus is a massive superyacht with a total length of 430 feet (131 meters), a beam of 59 feet (18 meters), and an interior volume of 6,200 GT – a megayacht, if you’re particular about the unofficial classification by size of these private vessels.
Despite its size, Aeolus retains a kind of elegance you’d be hard pressed to find in any other build, and that’s because its exterior design, courtesy of Giles Taylor, is meant to create the impression that it’s shaped by the wind. Hence the name. The less literal interpretation of the design is that it’s shaped by the wind of change, because this is a concept that’s meant to herald a new era of yachting, one where sustainability is key. The luxury segment might be late to the game, but it’s catching up with everyone else in terms of incorporating more sustainable features.
Photo: Oceanco
Oceanco unveiled Aeolus at the Dubai International Boat Show, but did not go into its specifics. We know that Aeolus would use unspecified MTU power solutions with sustainable tech by partner ABB, with the main takeaway being that the design of the vessel would be such as to allow retrofitting new, more sustainable tech, with the goal of eventually attaining net zero. Much like the wind, Aeolus would be theoretically able to travel with zero emissions, assuming the owner would be as dedicated to the sustainable goal as the builders themselves.
From a more superficial, purely aesthetic perspective, Aeolus is a gorgeous vessel that would do any multi-millionaire proud. Giles Taylor has an impressive background in luxury automotive design and it shows in the gorgeous, sinuous but not overtly feminine lines of the exterior. Meanwhile, the interior is by Njord, the yachting arm of Bergman Design House, with a naval architecture done in-house at Oceanco, with assistance from Lateral. Lateral’s contribution comes via the Energy Transition Platform (ETP), described as “an adaptable architecture to enable a future-proofed pathway to net zero.”
The result is exactly what you’d expect from a superyacht that aims to look like it's “shaped by the wind:” aside from the decks, you will find no sharp angles and no edges anywhere onboard.
Aeolus is designed as a private oasis at sea, one that affords maximum privacy, which offers solace and relaxation, and most importantly, which remains the epitome of luxury. Oceanco offered only passing glimpses of the interior, noting how the vessel would provide accommodation for the owner’s family and some close friends, with “pod-like” communal spaces that would prioritize privacy and spectacular views.
Photo: Oceanco
Materials would have to be sustainable, as well, because Oceanco does nothing halfway. No compromise would be made on luxury, so bio-materials would range from vegan leather made from cactus plants to organically-certified cottons and non-toxic dyes. The overall styling verges on minimalist, but without that harsh edge that comes with paring down, mostly thanks to the use of neutrals and warm browns.
Oceanco’s CEO Marcel Onkenhout says that Aeolus is the result of casting aside the preconceptions of yesterday, in order to be able to evolve in yachting and look forward to tomorrow. This is a vessel whose carbon footprint could theoretically be reduced as sustainable technologies advance. More importantly, it would be a sustainable vessel with the same important traits that make any Oceanco build noteworthy: luxuriousness, beauty, and exclusiveness.
It’s not pretty as a picture, but quite literally beautiful as a work of art. Here’s to hoping the study will be further developed.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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