Luna Superyacht Explorer: How a $400 Million Legend Became a Deadweight

Back when superyacht explorers weren't yet the trendiest, hottest multi-millionaire floating toys for experienced adventurers, wannabe seafarers, and millionaires looking to show off, Luna came to slay – and pave the way for all the rest. Today, MY Luna is a shadow of its former self after years of abandonment and neglect, telling a story as woeful as it's impressive.

Motor Yacht Luna, or Luna for short, is one of the most famous, iconic, and instantly-recognizable vessels in its class, a record-setting leisure watercraft that marked a lot of industry firsts and set a new standard for every other superyacht to follow. At 114 meters (374 feet) and a reported cost between $325 million and $550 million, it's also among the world's largest and most expensive – which only makes its downfall all the more sadder.

Luna was delivered in 2010 to none other than Russian billionaire turned sanctioned oligarch Roman Abramovich. Always the man with very specific tastes, he'd asked for a tough but elegant superyacht with far-reaching capabilities and enhanced safety, and Lloyd Werft built it for him. With a design by NewCruise based on a naval platform from Lloyd Werft and interiors by Donald Starkey, Luna was designed as the more elegant and more luxurious version of predecessor Le Grand Bleu.

At the time of its delivery, Luna featured the world's largest pool ever built on a yacht and stood out for its oversize aft deck that sacrificed unprecedented amounts of interior space for sun-worshipping. Even then, it was revolutionary both in terms of size and the level of luxury onboard, featuring diesel-electric propulsion for maximum efficiency and performance, a packed garage, and private spaces that no one was allowed to even glimpse until many years later.

Powered by twin engines, Luna could cruise at 19 knots (22 mph/35 kph) and max out at 22 (25.3 mph/40.7 kph), and its shallow draft allowed it to sail into waters where similarly-sized yachts couldn't. Accommodation onboard was for 19 guests across eight spacious suites, including the owner's suite situated on a private deck, and 49 crew.

Amenities ranged from a private screening room and spectacular sauna to a hospital unit, a dynamic swimmer recovery system, and two large helipads, while security measures included bulletproof glass on the windows, anti-drone system, diver sonar sensors, and even an anti-missile detection system. Abramovich was a man of peculiar tastes, alright, and he'd built this superyacht accordingly.

Luna was then the largest private superyacht explorer in the world and has only dropped one position since. It was also among the first vessels of this kind before just about every multi-millionaire with certain adventurous pretensions started commissioning one. It was, in short, a trendsetter in every way.

Luna is also one of the most controversial superyachts today, with the strangest history of all. It didn't get to do much exploring under Abramovich's ownership before he either sold it or gifted it to good friend and business associate Farkhad Akhmedov, an Azerbaijani-Russian billionaire looking for a family vessel. After one season in the Mediterranean, Akhmedov sent Luna in for a refit in 2015, just one year after purchase.

It would be completed 16 months later and, to the tune of over $50 million, became the most expensive refit undertaken to that date. Luna was born to set and break records, though they didn't do much good for it in the end.

When it came out of the yard again, Luna was still recognizable but completely overhauled. This was the only time that members of the press were allowed on board, and a look inside the vessel was possible. Everything from the tiles in the pool to the velvet on the chairs and the exterior paint (now called Luna Blue) had been changed, but the original styling was still noticeable. New modified stabilizers were installed, a beach club was added under the aft deck, and even the tenders were refitted. Luna was still Luna, but somehow brand new, shinier, and more luxurious than before.

Just a short while later, the bloom was off the rose for Akhmedov and his soon-to-be-ex-wife Tatyana Akhmedova, as they became locked in a bitter divorce dispute with Luna caught in the crossfire. Since the Akhmedovs had been living in the UK for some time, their divorce played out in the British divorce court, culminating with a 2018 decision to award Tatyana £453 million (approximately $572 million at the current exchange rate) as settlement. She asked for Luna instead.

Akhmedov hid the superyacht in Dubai, where it would remain for the next three years, while he fought Tatyana in court and eventually got her to settle for cash instead. In 2021, he ordered Luna back to Germany for another refit required by the extended stay in the dock without proper maintenance. Even this victory would prove short-lived: Akhmedov would be included on the sanctions list in early 2022, as Russia launched an all-out war against Ukraine and third-party countries embraced sanctions as a way of showing support for the Ukrainian people.

In May 2022, Luna was seized in Germany at the Blohm + Voss yard, and it's been frozen there since. On May 2, 2023, members of the German police boarded Luna to conduct a raid looking for hidden valuables. Akhmedov stands accused of fraud, and authorities believe he may have undeclared assets onboard, mostly art objects. No word yet on whether they found anything aside from the artworks Luna already had as part of its finishes, but the arrest and subsequent raid mark a sad – and hopefully not final – chapter in the story of one of the world's most impressive explorers.