The Secretive 403-Foot Golden Odyssey Is the Most Expensive Yacht Sold in 2022

Back in 2021, some probably expected that most of the industries that were affected due to the pandemic would continue to be on an ascending path. But 2022 came with its unexpected challenges and events that had a profound impact on the luxury yacht industry. As a result, sales were considerably lower than the previous year.

If, at the end of 2021, Superyacht Times was reporting a total of 1,000 global sales (according to its yachting intelligence system), 2022 only had a little over 600 sales by the end of December, according to Boat International. The same discrepancy was noticeable in the value of the top sales.

Paul Allen’s former superyacht Octopus dwarfed all other superyachts sold in 2021, not just by size (414 feet/126 meters) but mainly by cost. Even after multiple price cuts since it had been placed on the market in 219, at the time of its sale, it was asking for a whopping $266 million. In 2022, the most expensive superyacht was sold for “just” $159 million, although it was similar in size (403 feet/123 meters).

More than that, it was a court-ordered sale, which was the culminating point of a scandal involving the yacht’s official owner, a corporate entity named Kal Marine Limited, and Deutsche Bank Luxembourg, who secured an arrest warrant for the yacht. Behind all that, the floating mansion was known to be one of the custom ultra-luxury toys of Prince Khaled Bin Sultan.

It all began with Prince Khaled’s so-called “Golden Fleet” of superyachts. Son of the late Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Azziz of Saudi Arabia, and former Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation, the Prince also founded The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, back in 2000.

Describing itself as a non-profit dedicated to researching and protecting the world’s oceans, the Foundation was supported by the Golden Fleet, mainly comprised of the original Golden Odyssey, an 80-meter (263 feet) yacht, and the Golden Shadow, a 1990 Blohm+Voss support vessel.

The 220-foot Golden Shadow, a pioneering vessel and a state-of-the-art floating laboratory, helped the foundation carry out important research projects, and was eventually sold. In 2015, the original Golden Odyssey was also replaced with a much bigger version, the 403-foot mammoth that goes by this name today.

Built by Lurssen in Bremen, Germany, the enormous pleasure craft featured an impeccable exterior by Martin Francis and custom interiors by Alberto Pinto. As is often the case with Arab royalty-owned vessels, Golden Odyssey remained entirely private and inaccessible to the media and the curious public.

No images of its supposedly-lavish interiors are available to this day, and very little is known about its amenities. It allegedly boasts 16 staterooms for up to 32 guests, plus accommodation for at least 50 crew. It comes with premium wellness facilities, including a beach club, a spa, and a beauty salon, and it’s supposedly fitted with powerful diesel-electric Wartsila engines for a cruising speed of 11 knots (12.5 mph/20 kph).

The elusive masterpiece stayed out of the spotlight for years, until October 2022, when Times of Malta confirmed that it was arrested while being docked there for a refit. That’s when the world found out that Deutsche Bank Luxembourg was after this luxury toy for an outstanding debt of around $120 million.

The yacht’s owner on paper, Kal Marine Limited, had secured a loan almost a decade prior, in 2013, using Golden Odyssey as collateral. After failing to make repayments, the bank managed to secure an arrest warrant for the highly valuable asset. By the end of October 2022, a judge approved the private sale to East Thrive Peace, another corporate entity, for €150 million ($159.6 million).

This became the highest-ever court-ordered sale price for a yacht in Malta, and Golden Odyssey became the most expensive yacht sold in 2022. The future of this mammoth vessel remains just as mysterious as its looks, and it’s also unclear whether Prince Khaled intends to replace it with yet another giant pleasure craft, as part of his Golden Fleet.

Currently the 36th-largest yacht in the world, and the most expensive one sold in 2022, Golden Odyssey seems destined to remain one of the most enduring enigmas of the luxury yachting world.