''Zeus'' (formerly ''ECO'', ''Katana'' and ''Enigma'') is a

large Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...

private

superyacht A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from to ...

. According to ''Power and Motoryacht'' magazine, she was owned by Aidan Barclay, son of the British media tycoon David Barclay, who recently purchased the ''Telegraph'' newspaper. She was sold after her former owner,

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded software company Oracle Corporation. He was Oracle's chief executive officer from 1977 to 2014 and is now its chief technology officer a ...

, took delivery of '' Rising Sun'', the 6th largest private yacht in the world at the time. Measuring slightly more than 244 feet (or around 75 metres) long, ''Enigma'' was launched in 1991 and originally christened ''ECO'' by its former owner,

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

mogul Emilio Azcárraga, founder and former CEO of TV and

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

conglomerate

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

. ''Enigma'' is renowned for her design, including a pyramidal

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

surrounded by convex windows and an agile design that enables her to achieve a maximum speed of 36

knot A knot is an intentional complication in Rope, cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including List of hitch knots, hitches, List of bend knots, bends, List of loop knots, loop knots, ...

s. The yacht has nine luxurious suites and the rear deck was originally designed to carry a Maule turboprop floatplane. She was built by German shipbuilder

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

and designed by Martin Francis. The

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

originally featured a pad for a

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

, which Ellison replaced by a basketball court. The boat once crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

(3000 miles) in 3 days, with one mid-ocean refueling. ''Zeus'' is powered by two

Deutz AG Deutz AG is a German internal combustion engine manufacturer, based in Porz, Cologne, Germany. History The company was founded by Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, and his partner Eugen Langen on 3 ...

BV16M628 diesel engines each producing 5,000

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

and one GE LM1600

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

producing 18,500 horsepower. Each engine drives its own water jet drive. Because of the number of fuel consumed when using the turbine engine for full speed cruising, the owner also commissioned a fuel tanker to provide refueling capabilities mid-journey. In 2017, she was sold to Yannakis Theophani "John" Christodoulou, a Monaco-based Cypriot

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

property developer, owner of Yianis Group who gave her its new name.

References

Sources

External links

For a brief blurb, see number 34
{{Blohm + Voss Ships built in Hamburg Motor yachts 1991 ships