The Italian shipyard Azimut Benetti has won a contract for a 35-metre conference boat for the city of Tokyo: the yacht is aimed at hosting official presentations and conferences.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s brief called for a tri-deck motoryacht with draught below 1.25 metres and height not exceeding 11 metres from the waterline, so to enable the yacht to cruise in the shallow waters and to pass under the bridges in the Tokyo bay. The interior design feature required was a conference table seating up to 35 peopole, with an interpreter booth and a Japanese-style reception room. Another requirement was that the yacht could reach a maximum speed of 25 knots.
Azimut Benetti has been collaborating with Verme Yacht Design consultants to develop the structural design and the hull shape of such a custom vessel. A dedicated team has been dedicated to the order, under the coordination of Project Manager Fortunato Di Marco. The team includes a group of Japanese engineers, needed to ensure that the customer receives comprehensive assistance immediately.
Design solutions applied to meet the needs of the client include a water-jet propulsion system to keep the draught below 1.25 metres, and a special retractable aerial to lower the overall height of the yacht when needed to pass under a bridge.
Vincenzo Poerio, CEO of Benetti, commented: “We have won an extremely difficult tender operation in a country where the impeccable quality of products and services is a philosophy of life. The customer was extremely selective in both the pre-selection and award stages. The fact that we have beaten the major shipyards we were competing against is a further demonstration of our organisational reliability, financial soundness, construction experience and technological innovation capabilities, of which I cannot help but be very proud”.
The Azimut Benetti 35-metre conference boat is expected to be delivered in December 2018.
