Bilgin 173
| 52.7 m LOA (173 ft), 9.25 m beam, 499 GT | |
| First hull Giaola-Lu due 2027, named for the owner's earlier Bilgin | |
| Second hull NB90 sold April 2026, delivery scheduled March 2028 | |
| First Bilgin new build sale concluded through Edmiston | |
| Top speed 16 knots, range 4,500 nm at 10 knots | |
| 12 guests in 6 suites, displacement steel hull with aluminium superstructure | |
| Exterior and naval architecture by Unique Yacht Design, interior by Hot Lab |
The 500 GT game, played at 53 metres
Gross tonnage, the measure of internal volume, drives crewing, class and compliance thresholds, and 500 GT is the line every owner feels in operating cost. Above it, minimum manning rises, surveys multiply and flag and port obligations tighten, so a certified 499 GT is worth real money every operating year. The 173 packs a 52.7 metre yacht underneath it at 499 GT, stretching the approach Bilgin proved on the 163 and 170 to its practical limit.
The platform logic is straightforward. Naval architecture, structure and systems carry over from hulls already built and debugged, so the yard sells certainty on schedule and engineering while each owner concentrates on layout, finish and the way the boat will actually be used.
A returning name on the first hull
The first 173 will be called Giaola-Lu, a name Bilgin followers will recognise. The original Giaola-Lu was the yard's 46.8 metre delivered in 2017, and her owner has come back to the same builder for a larger boat carrying the same name, after running the first one for the better part of a decade.
In an industry where repeat custom is the strongest reference available, a returning name on hull one is the best endorsement a new series can get. Hull one is scheduled for 2027 and carries the series specification, a 9.25 metre beam, 2.6 metre draft and accommodation for twelve guests in six suites.
The first hull carries a returning owner's name, the second sold two years before delivery.
NB90 and the Edmiston milestone
The second hull, NB90, was sold in April 2026, the yard's first new build sales agreement concluded with Edmiston. The buyer is American, intends to run the yacht in active charter, and takes delivery on a schedule the parties have put at March 2028.
A charter oriented American buyer is a telling signature. Sub-500 GT, six stateroom, long range yachts are the backbone of the premium charter fleet, and an owner choosing a Bilgin platform for a commercial program has done the arithmetic on build cost against charter revenue and liked the answer. The sale also puts a delivery marker on the calendar, March 2028, that the yard has every commercial incentive to hit in front of its newest brokerage partner.
Design continuity with Unique and Hot Lab
Like every current Bilgin series, the 173 pairs Unique Yacht Design on naval architecture and exterior with Hot Lab on the interior. The look extends the sculpted bow and athletic sheer introduced on the 170, drawn out over a longer hull with more length at the waterline.
Published figures show a 16 knot top speed, a 10 knot cruise and 4,500 nautical miles of range, on a displacement steel hull with aluminium superstructure. The range is quoted at the 10 knot cruise, the pace at which displacement hulls of this size are actually moved between seasons. These are passage making numbers, built for Mediterranean summers, Caribbean winters and the crossings between on her own keel.
Where the 173 sits for a buyer
At 52.7 metres and 499 GT the 173 enters the most contested segment in yachting, where established Italian and northern European yards defend the volume end of the custom market. Bilgin's answer is custom yard treatment on a proven platform, from the builder whose 80 metre trilogy retired the question of Turkish flagship capability.
With hull two sold roughly two years before its delivery and hull one building for a repeat client, the series opened with an order book already in place. Trade press counts seven yachts across the combined 163, 170 and 173 order book, and every one of them deepens the pool of crew experience, parts and yard knowledge the 173 will draw on. For a prospective owner, that means validated demand on the way in and a deeper market on the way out.
Motores y sistemas
| Hull and superstructure | Displacement steel hull with aluminium superstructure, 9.25 m beam, 2.6 m draft (YachtBuyer, TWW Yachts) |
|---|---|
| Fuel tankage | 56,500 litres (TWW Yachts, YachtBuyer) |
| Range and speed | 16 knots top speed, 10 knot cruise, 4,500 nm range at the 10 knot cruise (YachtBuyer, TWW Yachts, Bilgin Yachts) |
| Crew | 9 crew for 12 guests in 6 suites (YachtBuyer, TWW Yachts) |
| Not publicly known | No source checked, including the builder's own site and both hulls' broker listings, publishes main engine make or power, generator make or output, bow thruster or stabilizer specification, or fresh/black/grey water tankage. For a yacht still two to three years from delivery this is not unusual, but a buyer comparing platforms will have to ask the yard directly |
Lo bueno y lo que conviene vigilar
Puntos fuertes
- Two buyers have already underwritten the platformHull one carries a returning owner's name from an earlier Bilgin, and hull two sold to a new American buyer through Edmiston roughly two years ahead of its scheduled delivery - real commercial validation before the first hull is even finished.
- A genuinely useful gross-tonnage target499 GT on a 52.7 metre hull keeps the yacht under the minimum-manning and survey step-change that starts at 500 GT, a real, quantifiable operating-cost saving that carries over from the smaller Bilgin 163 and 170 platforms it is built on.
A tener en cuenta
- No propulsion or systems specification is public yetNeither the builder nor either hull's broker listing discloses main engine make, power, generator output, or thruster and stabilizer specification. A buyer cannot yet compare the 173's machinery against a named rival's on paper.
- No independent owner or sea-trial evidence existsBoth hulls are pre-delivery (2027 and 2028), so by definition there is no owner report, charter guest account or sea trial to check the yard's performance figures against. Everything here is the builder's and brokers' own material.
Información práctica
| Series status | Two hulls sold: hull one (Giaola-Lu, for a repeat Bilgin owner) due 2027; hull two (NB90) sold April 2026 through Edmiston to an American buyer, delivery scheduled summer 2028 (Boat International, SuperYacht Times, YachtBuyer) |
|---|---|
| Sale prices | Not disclosed for either hull. Megayacht News and Boat International both report the NB90 sale without a figure, and TWW Yachts' listing for a sold hull directs enquiries rather than stating a price - normal for confidential new-build contracts at this level, but worth stating plainly rather than guessing |
| Planned use of NB90 | Mixed private and commercial charter across both American and European Atlantic coasts, managed by Edmiston (Boat International, Megayacht News) |
| Design team | Naval architecture and exterior by Unique Yacht Design, interior by Hot Lab, the same pairing used across the 163 and 170 series before it (Bilgin Yachts, Boat International) |
| Comparable series pricing | The related Bilgin 170 (also 52 m class) has listed asking prices from about USD 40.6 million new and EUR 36 million for a resale hull, giving a rough order-of-magnitude bracket for what a 173 is likely to cost, though the two series are not identical (YachtBuyer) |
Para quién es: An owner, or an owner with charter ambitions, who wants maximum sub-500 GT volume on a platform two committed buyers have already underwritten.