On May 4, 2024, the maritime industry was forever changed with the launch of Project 821, the latest build from prestigious shipyard Feadship. Not only is this the biggest delivery to date from the yard, but it’s also the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell megayacht.
According to online reports, it was built on commission for none other than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and it’s already been listed for sale.
Earlier this week, rumors started making the rounds that billionaire and climate activist Bill Gates was getting a new megayacht – the mothership to the Shadowcat he got in 2021, Wayfinder. That megayacht was Project 821 from Feadship, which came with a 2024 estimated delivery date and had been, until just now, completely shrouded in secrecy.
Photo: Feadship/RWD/Edmiston Yachts
As per the same reports, Gates was looking to sell both vessels for reasons unknown, and the asking for Project 821 was nothing short of €600 million (or $643.5 million at the current exchange rate). Obviously, there were questions about the insane premium on the megayacht, as large and custom and luxurious as it might have been. There were also questions about the reasons Gates may have had to make the decision to sell.
Some of these questions have been answered, more or less directly, by Feadship lifting the veil on Project 821. The megayacht was launched officially on May 4 at the Amsterdam drydock facility, offering the first look at the highly secretive project.
A world first and setting the tone for the industry: hydrogen is the way
Project 821 is the first superyacht in the world to be powered by a pure green hydrogen fuel source, as part of the shipyard’s approach to net zero propulsion by 2030. Feadship calls it a superyacht but, technically, at 390 feet (119 meters) and an interior volume of over 7,000 GT, it’s a megayacht.
Photo: Feadship/RWD/Edmiston Yachts
Its size serves a purpose beyond having enough space to include all the trappings of the luxury life: it offers the space to include fuel cell technology for cruising between harbors and operating the hotel load. Just to be clear, Project 821 can’t undertake ocean crossings on hydrogen because it doesn’t have enough storage for it, but it will cruise noise- and emissions-free at 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph) or run hotel functions at anchor for an entire week.
Feadship says that, as of this moment, Project 821 is the only vessel to use hydrogen fuel cell for extended operation.
Development for the vessel was a five-year undertaking that involved building appropriately scaled equipment, and devising protocols and safety regulations simultaneously, because of a lack of regulation on all levels, and it was possible with help from partners Lloyd’s Register and Edmiston, which also represented the owner.
Hydrogen fuel cell has only water vapor as exhaust, but the biggest challenge with it is that storing compressed liquid hydrogen must be done in tanks at -253°C (-423.4°F).
Photo: Feadship/RWD/Edmiston Yachts
Storing hydrogen takes ten times more space than storing diesel, and that becomes a problem with a project where space is already at a premium, like a superyacht. Because of its size, Project 821 was the perfect candidate for this, allowing Feadship to put in a dedicated storage room with double-walled cryogenic storage tanks capable of holding 92 square meters of hydrogen.
For extended travels, Project 821 relies on 3,200 kW ABB pod drives powered by MTU generators that run on hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), a system Feadship developed for and perfected on Obsidian in 2023. Further focus on sustainability is observed throughout the entire project, down to the decarbonization of the construction process, including in the production of the aluminum for the superstructure.
Project 821 features Feadship’s patented waste heat recovery system, which heats up the pools and Jacuzzis, as well as the steam room, the air, the floors and towel bars in the bathrooms. A smart AC system helps with energy management, automatically reducing AC or heating in guest spaces left unoccupied for longer stretches.
Green credentials aside, Project 821 is pure luxury on water
But the merits of this Feadship megayacht go beyond the yard’s focus on sustainability. Designed by RWD inside out, this gigantic vessel boasts five decks above the waterline and two below and includes features that have rarely been done in other builds, either separately or together.
Photo: Feadship/RWD/Edmiston Yachts
Project 82 has the most hull openings on any Feadship yacht, and they include five shell doors, 14 slide-out balconies, and seven large opening platforms. When any one of these openings is deployed, it happens at the press of a button – which also ensures that the floor of the platform rises so that it’s level with the rest of the room, thus extending livable space out on the water.
Features include a couple of libraries, a private elevator and a private walkway just for the owner, a couple of offices with fireplaces, a dedicated hospital, a Nemo lounge, a private cinema, a gym and a generous wellness area, and several pools, one of which is counter-flow and features a movable glass bottom. The Nemo lounge, introduced on the superyacht Savannah, is a semi-submerged lounge with expansive glazing that allows for breathtaking underwater views.
Accommodation onboard is for as many as thirty guests in 12 staterooms, including the owner’s suite and four VIPs that can be rearranged into eight guest staterooms. Additional quarters and two separate staff cabins are available for 44 crew.
Photo: Feadship/RWD/Edmiston Yachts
Feadship notes that the megayacht’s garages are already packed. An 11.3-meter (37-foot) Zin Boat electric tender, a 12-meter (39-foot) custom Vikal limo tender, and a pair of 7.2-meter (23.6-foot) rescue tenders are among the toys available for use, making this megayacht perfect for multi-generational use.
The Bill Gates connection
All of the above explains the reported asking price of €600 million ($643.5 million). It also explains the rumor that first started making the rounds in 2019, that Bill Gates had bought himself a hydrogen yacht. The initial report linked him to the Aqua concept, which Sinot Yacht & Architecture Design had created for the 2019 Monaco Yacht Show but never planned on building.
In 2020, Sinot was forced to deny rumors that it had sold the Aqua concept to Gates (or any other billionaire, for that matter), in preparation for the build. Aqua was a mere study in terms of sustainable propulsion and the studio never planned on developing it any further than that.
Photo: Feadship/RWD/Edmiston Yachts
As it turns out, though, there was some truth to the rumors because the timing coincides. Five years ago, Bill Gates did buy himself a $645 million-ish megayacht that runs on hydrogen and features the most luxurious amenities – just not Aqua.
Last week’s rumors that Project 821 would be listed for sale have also been confirmed: Edmiston is holding the listing, which is private. A vessel of this kind, size, and spec won’t get a listing like any other, so there’s no way of confirming the reported price tag (just yet). As it turns out, even on the private sector of the yachting industry, the saying “there’s never smoke without a fire” seems to apply. Or, in this case, a megayacht-shaped spark.
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