Explorer Class Yachts - Easter Internet rabbit hole

45Wheelgun

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With all this talk about Russian Oligarchs and their yachts, I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole, and thought I would share.

Ever heard of a civilian "Explorer Class" yacht?

Instead of traditional warm weather extravagant super yacht, made for Russian Oligarchs, Dotcom billionaires or heads of pharmaceutical companies, an Explorer Class Yacht is an autonomous vessel, capable of sailing anywhere in the world.

While not clearly defined, an Explorer should be able to cruise a minimum 40 days without going into port. Be able to travel 5000 nautical miles at 10 knots in any type of ocean/weather conditions.

It should have the onboard capability to store and process food, water, garbage and sewage for crew and guests. It should be able to generate water, power while also containing any support vehicles and crew necessary to off-board and explore anywhere in the world.

You might have started with this, the m.v. Sanaborg 70m (230') 444 ton - Ice Breaking Multipurpose Support Vessel (IMSV) to use as a donor vessel in order to create your new Explorer Yacht:

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Two years and $89,000,000 later you would take delivery of the Ragnar:

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45wheelgun-albums-misc-1-a-picture24642-ragnar1.jpg


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Complete with a very "Bond Like" promotional video:

224' Expedition Yacht RAGNAR is a converted commercial ship - YouTube


Sales Video/Tour:

EXTRAORDINARY ICON'S EXPLORER YACHT RAGNAR LAUNCHED AND DELIVERED. UNIQUE FOOTAGE! - YouTube


This yacht and her British crew are currently stranded in Norway because the Norwegians are refuing to sell them fuel. The Norwegians claim the ship is owned by a Russian, who they admit (even if it were true) isn't named on the UN sanction list.

From the UK Guardian:

"Its captain Rob Lankester, who says he is a British former Royal Marine, has accused Norwegian authorities of discrimination, saying the yacht’s owner is not on the sanctions list and that neither he, nor his 15-man crew, is Russian. Neither he says, is the yacht Russian, as it is registered in Malta, sailing under the Maltese flag. “But no one will listen to us,” he said."

More cool videos about the ship:

Actual discussion of the engineering and realistic discussion of the project (no marketing hype):

68m Expedition Yacht is not just "Ice-classed" it is an ICE BREAKER One of the best conversions ever - YouTube

Birth of an Icon: (Complete build story)

The Birth of an ICON - The Conversion of the most capable Explorer Yacht of today by ICON YACHTS - YouTube

Time lapse of the superstructure conversion: (45 very cool seconds)

Project RAGNAR timelapse - 21 months in 45 seconds! - YouTube
 
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This yacht and her British crew are currently stranded in Norway because the Norwegians are refusing to sell them fuel. [/url]

Just goes to show you that no matter how fancy your ship and no matter much money you have, if you ain't got no fuel, you're dead in the water...literally.:D
 
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