You would never expect any kind of vessel described as “an icon” to sell for peanuts, and the recently-renamed H3 is no exception. The Oceanco superyacht, which has since transitioned to a proper megayacht after an extensive and transformative refit, has entered the market – and it comes with an insane asking price.
In 2019, its current owner, believed to be Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, brought it back to builder Oceanco for a refit that eventually became a complete transformation of the kind that had never been done before.
“What if an icon could evolve?” is how Oceanco teased the January 2023 reveal. The old but completely new megayacht, now christened H3, was the answer to that rhetorical question.
Photo: Guillame Plisson for Oceanco
Evolved or not, the current owner of H3 has listed it for sale, with an asking price worthy of the “icon” status. Edmiston Yachts holds the listing, which comes with €295 million (approximately $316.2 million at the current exchange rate) price tag.
The listing also brings the first-ever look inside this Oceanco icon, and let’s just say that the wait has been worth it.
A first look inside H3
When it was delivered as Al Mirqab to the Prime Minister of Qatar, H3 was 95 meters (311 feet) long, featured naval architecture by Oceanco and Lateral Naval Architects, and interiors by Reymond Langton Design. It was described at the time as one of the most opulent and fast for its size superyachts, and the string of awards it won confirmed that.
Photo: Edmiston Yachts
Still, Al Mirqab remained a highly guarded secret even for established trade publications.
The current listing changes that. H3 is now 105 meters (344 feet) long and boasts an entirely new superstructure, but Reymond Langton Design was brought back to do the interiors. They are now best described as timelessly classic and elegant, done in muted tones with the occasional earthy or golden accents, high-quality materials, and a dedication to creating spaces that feel both luxurious and open.
Unlike some megayachts out there, H3 isn’t opulent and much less gaudy, though it might still feel overwhelming for its size, if not for the sophisticated luxurious styling.
Photo: Edmiston Yachts
Accommodation onboard is now for 20 guests across 10 suites and 31 crew in separate quarters. The owner’s suite gets its own deck and top-of-the-line features that turn it into a self-sufficient space the owner can retire to whenever they feel like it.
These include a water feature, a climate-controlled Winter Garden that can become a formal dining space for 32 guests, a 14-person indoor dining area, a wine cellar, and a lounge that’s also a private cinema. Obviously, billionaires have a different understanding of the term “intimate” than us normies.
Other features available to the rest of the guests include a custom whirlpool and an oversize pool with a sun motif on the bottom. The bottom is actually a hydraulically actuated platform that allows height adjustment and, in some situations, closing off the space altogether to create a dancefloor.
Photo: Edmiston Yachts
Amenities also include a large gym and wellness area, a hair and beauty salon, a spa, a hammam, and a massage room slash hospital room. A touch-and-go helipad on the foredeck has been designed to accommodate an EC155, and the garages are packed with tenders and water toys, offered as part of the deal.
H3 boasts a spectacular interactive video wall that connects the main deck welcome lounge and the main salon, a beach club that can be extended with drop-down platforms just perfect for a sunset yoga class or tea time with a view, and several bars and lounge areas, both indoors and outdoors, to socialize and relax.
Offering an interior volume of 3,521 GT, H3 cruises at 14 knots (16.2 mph/26 kph) and reaches maximum speeds of 18 knots (20.7 mph/33.3 kph) at full throttle. That’s slower than its performance in the previous iteration, but only because it’s now longer, bigger, and heavier.
Photo: Edmiston Yachts
A controversial past and a history-making rebirth
As much praise and industry recognition as H3 earned upon delivery, it came very close to losing it all under its second owner.
In 2006, the “King of Good Times” billionaire politician Vijay Mallya bought it and commissioned its first-ever refit. Renamed Indian Empress, the superyacht was now packed with rare artworks and restyled as the most opulent entertaining vessel, and Mallya made sure to make ample use of it until 2017.
Faced with outstanding debts and fraud charges, Mallya abandoned the Indian Empress in Malta and authorities seized it in an attempt to pay the crew’s salaries and whatever bills it had accumulated until then. After one failed auction, Indian Empress sold for a mere €35 million ($37.5 million at the current exchange rate) to an unknown party and renamed NEOM. Reports at the time valued it at more than $150 million, not including the artworks still onboard.
Photo: Edmiston Yachts
It’s under the NEOM name that H3 sailed into Netherlands for the refit that transformed it into H3, the spectacular megayacht it is today. More than the most expensive and luxurious instance of upcycling on such a grand scale, H3 stands for a slate wiped clean, a complete reinvention.
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