Heesen's 72m Ananda puts a hyperbaric chamber in the owner's brief
Heesen's first design under new owners leads with a spa, not speed
Heesen revealed Project Ananda, yard number YN 21872, on 1 June. The 72-metre steel yacht is the first design the Dutch builder has shown since Laurens Last acquired it in 2025, and it was drawn with Sinot Yacht Architecture and Design. Naval architecture is by Heesen, with tank testing completed at the University of Southampton. Heesen calls it a Smart Custom platform, with a keel laying set for November 2026 and delivery in 2030.
Heesen built its reputation on fast aluminium yachts. Ananda is steel, tops out at 16 knots and is organised around comfort and range rather than pace. That is the point of the reveal. A new owner is using the first project to reset what a Heesen is for, and the answer on the table is a slower, calmer, wellness-led boat that reads more like a Sinot brief than a Heesen one.
A 100-square-metre spa that runs to a hyperbaric chamber
The wellness area covers about 100 square metres across a spa and beach club. Heesen lists a sauna, steam room, ice bath, snow shower, a massage and treatment room, a separate medical treatment room and a hyperbaric chamber, with a bar alongside. A travertine pool connects to a Teppanyaki-style counter. An amidships shell door opens onto a docking platform served by a central glass elevator.
The hyperbaric chamber and the medical treatment room are the details that matter here. They move the spa from a set of amenities toward something closer to a clinic, and they push the brief past saunas and cold plunges into recovery and diagnostics. For owners who spend long stretches aboard, the pitch is that the yacht can now hold the kind of health infrastructure they would otherwise travel home for.
Two masters, hybrid range and the trade-off for buyers
Ananda spreads across five decks and sleeps 12 guests in six staterooms. It carries two master suites, a forward apartment-style owner's deck with a private office and a second master on the bridge deck, which Heesen frames for multi-generational use. Propulsion is hybrid, with twin MTU engines driving a range of 5,000 nautical miles at 12 knots and a top speed of 16 knots.
The second master is the commercial idea. It lets one boat serve a couple, a family with grandchildren, or an owner who charters, without rebuilding the layout each time. Buyers reading the spec get a clear trade. Speed and the aluminium hull go, and in their place come range, quiet running and a layout that can flex across owners. Whether that resells as well as Heesen's faster boats is the open question, and 2030 is a long way to hold a view on where the brief is heading.
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- A real strategic pivot, not just a new hullAnanda is Heesen's first design since its acquisition by Laurens Last, and leading with a 100 square metre wellness spa rather than top speed is a deliberate break from the yard's fast-aluminium reputation.
- A genuinely long-legged hybridTwin MTU IMO Tier III engines with PTI/PTO gearboxes give up to four hours of silent running and a reported 5,000 nm range at 12 knots - real cruising utility, not a marketing figure alone.
What to watch
- Nothing here is built yetKeel laying is not scheduled until November 2026 and delivery is not expected before 2030, so every figure in this story is a design-stage target, not a tested one.
- Wellness space is deck spaceA 100 square metre spa given over to a sauna, steam room, ice bath and hyperbaric chamber is space not spent on outdoor living or tender stowage - a real trade-off for an owner who wants both.
Practical detail
| Status | Design unveiled 2026; keel laying planned for November 2026; delivery expected 2030. Nothing aboard is final at this stage. |
|---|---|
| Propulsion | Twin MTU IMO Tier III engines with PTI/PTO gearboxes; up to four hours of silent running; range about 5,000 nm at 12 knots; top speed about 16 knots. |
| The spa | About 100 square metres: sauna, steam room, ice bath, snow shower, hyperbaric chamber, massage and medical treatment room and a bar, developed with Heesen's own human-health engineering department. |
| Design | Sinot Yacht Architecture and Design, exterior and interior, in close collaboration with Heesen's in-house engineering team. |
| What is not published | Price, guest and cabin count, confirmed hull material specification beyond the yard's own claim of its largest steel superyacht to date, and any named first client. |
Questions this story answers
What happened?
Heesen made its name on fast aluminium yachts. Its first design under new owner Laurens Last, the 72-metre Project Ananda drawn with Sinot, instead spends about 100 square metres on a spa that runs from snow shower to hyperbaric chamber. The reveal signals where the owner's brief is heading, and it starts with health and long-range comfort rather than outright speed.
What is good about it?
A real strategic pivot, not just a new hull. Ananda is Heesen's first design since its acquisition by Laurens Last, and leading with a 100 square metre wellness spa rather than top speed is a deliberate break from the yard's fast-aluminium reputation.
What should an owner or buyer watch?
Nothing here is built yet. Keel laying is not scheduled until November 2026 and delivery is not expected before 2030, so every figure in this story is a design-stage target, not a tested one.
Who reported this?
BOAT International, Robb Report, Superyachts.com.
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