Benetti is an Italian

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

and boat building company based in Viareggio,

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, and

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

, owned by Azimut Benetti S.p.A. Benetti designs and constructs motoryachts, and is one of the leading builders of custom superyachts, having won the ''Showboats International'' magazine "shipyard number 1" award six times in a row, the only yard to have done so.

History

Founded in 1873, when Lorenzo Benetti (1844–1914), bought the Darsena Luca shipyard to found the Benetti shipyard. The yard built commercial vessels, including fishing boats and Mediterranean trading ships. On his death in 1914, his sons Gino and Emilio took over, and renamed the yard Fratelli Benetti. They continued using wooden construction, but now built ocean-going ships, and some private yachts. After the death of Gino in 1927, his sons Giuseppe and Virgilio took over his share, while Maurizio and Bertani assisted their father Emilio.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the yard built medium-sized

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

vessels in steel, but due to highly effective bombing, the production was severely limited. After the war, and with restrictions on Italy on what she could produce militarily, the yard produced the first steel-hulled diesel powered vessel in the locality, the "Raphaelo". In 1954, Fratelli Benetti split its sailing and yacht business (Gino's family), from the commercial ship building business which continues under the name M&B Benetti (Emilio's family). Emilio has a holding in both companies, and chairs both companies. In 1963, Emilio died and the running of Fratelli Benetti was taken over by Gusieppe and his son Lorenzo. Lorenzo was the driver of the yacht business, moving instantly from wooden to steel construction, and designing three styles of yacht which brought the name Benetti to the world: the Delfino, the Tirreno and the Meditteraneo lines (from 18 to 33 metres). Demand for these vessels outstripped the capabilities of the yard. In 1978, the yard launched the "Viano", a sailing yacht which on corrected times won the Admirals Cup. In 1979, the yard launched "Nabila" for Adnan Khashoggi, which at 83 metres and 2,465 tonnes was the largest yacht of its time.

Sale to Azimut

Lorenzo died in 1980 and the company fell into financial difficulties until 1984, when it was purchased by Paolo Vitelli, the owner of Azimut, who renamed it Benetti Shipyard. In 1988, Benetti built a ship to challenge the transatlantic Blue Riband award but its efforts proved unsuccessful. The company is now part of the Azimut I Benetti group, also owner of Fraser Yachts.

Shipyards

Viareggio shipyard

Viareggio is the historical shipyard, in 1990 Benetti took over the 47,000sq m Lusben yard to allow the construction of both the Azimut range up to 100 ft, and the composite Benetti range and in 1997 was vastly expanded to to allow indoor building of yachts up to 70 m. In 2003 was acquired the area of the SEC yard which went bankrupt in the previous years in order to expand the production.

Fano shipyard

The company purchased the Siar-Moschino yard in

in 1998, taking the total capacity to . The yard has a 60 m wharf in the port.

Livorno shipyard

Azimut-Benetti acquired the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando in 2003 when the

yard was in severe economic difficulties. The old shipyard has been partially demolished to make space for a residential and commercial area named ''Porta a Mare'' (Gate to sea), the part toward the entrance of the harbour was transformed with the construction of six huge sheds were to laid down the yachts. The Morosini slip was dismantled and was erected a Marina where to berth the yachts built. Benetti Livorno shipyard has a covered area of 30,000 sq m, a production area of 28,000 sq m, an open area of 130,000 sq m and a total area of 190,000 sq m.

Benetti models

''Benetti Tradition'' is model of traditional yachts built by Benetti Yard. With

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

hull sizes up to 99 feet, powered by the

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

C18 the maximum

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

of Benetti Tradition 99 is 15 knots. ''Benetti Classic'' is a classical yacht, with a style very similar to those of Benetti Tradition but with a larger hull size. With

hull sizes up to 143feet, powered by the

C30 with higher power of 1,650 hp (each), the maximum

of Benetti Classic is 16 knots. ''Benetti Vision'' is a more modern style yacht with large measurements up to 143 feet. The beauty of this yacht is in the whole atmosphere and nice shape and exterior. Benetti Vision has two main engines of

3508B, with maximum power of 1,300 hp (each). This gives the yacht a maximum speed of 15 knots. This is a slightly less than Benetti Classic series, but with lower fuel consumption. The yacht is very beautiful designed interior with equipment for watersports and fishing. ''Benetti FB'' is the last series. This is the manufacturer's first series of luxury yachts. Some of the names of the yachts built by Benetti in the series FB are called Amnesia, I Dinasty, Wind, Alibella and many more. All of these yachts are from the highest level of luxury, comfort and expenses. In May 2010, Benetti yachts announced ''Benetti imagination'', which is first super yacht from Benetti's new 47 meter line. Imagination is designed by Stefano Natucci and Francois Zuretti. In 2011 the company delivered a "Benetti Vision 145"—their 16th. It had a specification of 390 tons fully loaded. In 2015, Benetti partnered with Henrik Fisker to launch new series of 164 ft super yachts called Benetti Fisker 50.

Superyachts

Benetti built hundreds of yachts over the years. Below is a list of selected Benetti yachts:

Clients

Benetti have built super yachts for many customers, including: *'' Nabila'' for Adnan Khashoggi *'' Galkynyş'' for the government of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

, to be used as a Presidential yacht by

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957) is a Turkmen politician and former dentist who is currently the chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan. He previously served as the second president of Turkmenistan from ...

*''Reverie'' for Kjell Inge Røkke *'' Lionheart'' for the

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

based British retail entrepreneur Philip Green *”Illusion V” now owned by the Mata family and also available for charter.

References

External links

{{commons category, Benetti
Official homepage

BBC News Photo tour of the Benetti factory
Manufacturing companies established in 1873 Italian companies established in 1873 Companies based in Viareggio Companies based in Marche Yacht building companies Shipbuilding companies of Italy Italian boat builders Italian brands Livorno Fano