Scheherazade
| LOA | 140 m |
|---|---|
| Builder | Lurssen |
| Delivered | 2020 |
| Exterior design | Espen Oeino |
| Interior design | Francois Zuretti |
| Guests / Crew | 18 / about 40 |
| Range | about 7,000 nm |
| Helipads | two |
Project Lightning becomes a flagship
Built under the project name Lightning, Scheherazade was delivered by Lurssen in 2020 as one of the twelve largest yachts in the world. At a full 140 metres she represents the yard's mastery of the giga-yacht at its most polished and refined. The build was conducted with the deep discretion that Lurssen reserves for its most significant clients. She emerged as a fully resolved flagship with almost no advance publicity of any kind. Her notably quiet debut only added to the fascination she immediately attracted.
Her arrival confirmed Lurssen's clear dominance at the very top of the market in the years around 2020. The programme drew freely on the yard's full engineering and craftsmanship resources. Scheherazade sits comfortably among the finest large yachts that have ever been delivered anywhere. She has become a genuine benchmark for quality at this considerable scale. She stands securely among the yard's finest achievements of the entire era.
Espen Oeino's balanced silhouette
Espen Oeino gave Scheherazade a graceful and superbly balanced profile that reads well from every angle. Her four-deck superstructure is carried over a long hull with a poise that quietly belies her true size. Two large helipads sit fore and aft, and a prominent beach club opens the stern directly to the sea. The exterior is elegant, considered and unmistakably contemporary in its language. The overall effect is one of calm and deeply understated confidence.
Oeino shaped generous exterior decks for sunbathing, dining and easy relaxation across her length. The lines flow cleanly from bow to stern without a single awkward transition anywhere. Every terrace was carefully placed to make the very most of the view and the light. The yacht looks serene at anchor and thoroughly purposeful while under way. The beach club brings guests right down to the water in real comfort.
A 140-metre Lurssen finished to a standard few yachts on the water can match.
Francois Zuretti's polished interiors
The interior by Francois Zuretti is finished to an exceptional standard across every single space aboard. Zuretti is known for rich and classical interiors, and Scheherazade shows that hand working at full stretch. The guest areas run to grand saloons, formal dining rooms and a full suite of wellness spaces. The craftsmanship on display is among the very best that the industry is able to produce. Each space rewards close inspection, right down to the smallest fitting and finish.
She accommodates 18 guests across nine spacious suites, with a crew of around 40 to serve them. The amenities include a spa, a beauty salon, a cinema and a generous beach club. The layout carefully balances formal entertaining with quiet, private retreat. Every material aboard was chosen with lasting quality firmly in mind. Guests move through the yacht surrounded at all times by materials of the very first rank.
Long-range comfort
Scheherazade is powered by twin MTU diesel engines driving a large and stable displacement hull. She cruises comfortably at around 15 knots and reaches a top speed of close to 20. Her range is estimated at some 7,000 nautical miles, comfortably enough for genuine ocean voyaging. The propulsion package was chosen above all for smooth and notably quiet running. She was built from the keel up to make even long passages feel effortless.
Zero-speed stabilisation and careful acoustic engineering keep life aboard calm in almost all conditions. The yacht readily carries the fuel and stores needed for long and self-sufficient passages. Her systems were built to Lurssen's demanding standards for redundancy and reliability. She is fully equipped to cruise anywhere in the world with complete confidence. Comfort and reliability quietly guided every single engineering decision aboard.
For the owner who wants quiet perfection
Scheherazade suits an owner who values genuine refinement far above any kind of spectacle. Her interiors richly reward those who appreciate craftsmanship at the very highest level. She is ideal for extended cruising with family and close guests in complete comfort. The yacht offers real grandeur that is always delivered with restraint. Her deepest appeal lies in the sheer quality of every last detail.
Her size effectively guarantees privacy, and her finish guarantees quiet pleasure in every detail. For an owner who wants one of the most polished large yachts anywhere afloat, she is a natural and obvious choice. Scheherazade continues to draw genuine admiration wherever in the world she appears. She is Lurssen working at its most assured and confident. She rewards a discerning and patient eye at every single turn.
Двигатели и системы
| Engines | Twin MTU diesels. Sources disagree on the exact model and rating: one lists 20V4000 M73L units at around 4,963 hp each, another lists 20V1163 M84 units at around 8,837 hp each. Treat the precise engine model as unconfirmed until a primary Lurssen spec sheet is available |
|---|---|
| Speed | Reported as either around 19.5 or 20 knots top speed, and 15 to 16.2 knots cruising, again differing by source |
| Hull and superstructure | Steel hull with an aluminium superstructure over four decks above the hull, teak decking |
| Classification and flag | Classed with DNV, flagged in the Cayman Islands |
| Guests and crew | The best-supported figures are 40 guests across 22 cabins with a crew of around 92 to 96. Some brokerage listings show a much lower 18 guests and 40 crew, which is internally inconsistent with their own cabin count and is treated here as unreliable |
| Range and tankage | A range of around 7,000 nautical miles and a fresh water capacity of around 110,000 litres are reported by yacht-database aggregators but could not be independently corroborated against a second named source |
Что сообщают владельцы и экипажи
Denial of the Putin-ownership theory
Scheherazade's British captain, asked directly by the New York Times whether the yacht's rumoured owner was Vladimir Putin, said he had never seen or met him. He is the one named person who has actually run the yacht to go on record about her ownership.
Captain Guy Bennett-Pearce, via the New York TimesThe refit yard's own position
The company that has held Scheherazade for refit work since 2021 has stated, based on its own documentation and checks by the competent Italian authorities, that the yacht cannot be attributed to Vladimir Putin. This is the yard's own account of a client relationship, not an independent finding.
The Italian Sea Group (parent of NCA Refit, Marina di Carrara)
Сильные стороны и что учесть
Сильные стороны
- One of the largest yachts Lurssen has ever builtAt roughly 141.96 metres and 10,167 GT, she ranks among the fifteen to twenty largest yachts in the world, a fully bespoke pairing of Espen Oeino's exterior with Francois Zuretti's interiors, built under the project name Lightning.
- An unusually extensive wellness and recreation programmeA spa complex with hammam, sauna, a cryotherapy chamber and hydro-massage, a custom judo gym, a cinema, twin helipads and an indoor pool whose floor lowers to become a dance floor, a scale of onboard amenity that goes beyond most yachts even at this length.
- An exceptionally long, well-funded buildContracted with Lurssen in December 2014 and delivered in June 2020, with documented construction spend of at least EUR 583.1 million according to an investigation into the financing structure, a genuinely enormous build cycle even by superyacht standards.
На что обратить внимание
- Seized and effectively unusable since 2022Detained by Italian authorities at Marina di Carrara on 6 May 2022 over links between her beneficial owner and sanctioned figures close to the Russian government. Over four years later she remains under Italian judicial control, unable to be chartered, sold or normally operated, and only left the dock for sea trials for the first time in that period in late August 2026.
- Lasting reputational weight, whatever the legal outcomeShe is one of the most publicly discussed Putin-yacht candidates in the world, after a Navalny-linked investigation found roughly two dozen of her crew tied to the Russian Federal Protective Service that guards the president personally. Her captain has denied it on the record, but the association has followed her for years and would likely follow any future owner too.
- Real ongoing cost with no offsetting incomeThe owner's side has reportedly kept paying an estimated USD 10 to 14 million a year in crew, insurance and maintenance costs to keep her in class, while Italy has separately incurred roughly USD 15 million of its own costs since 2022, all for a yacht that earns nothing and cannot be sold while the case is unresolved. The shipyard holding her, The Italian Sea Group, was itself placed under Italian court protection in March 2026 with heavy losses, a real operational risk to her upkeep that has nothing to do with the yacht's own engineering.
Практическая информация
| Delivered | June 2020 by Lurssen in Germany, under the project name Lightning, after a contract signed in December 2014 |
|---|---|
| Reported value | Estimates vary widely by what is being measured: media reports commonly cite around USD 700 million, she was reportedly valued at USD 510 million when frozen in 2022, and an investigation into her financing put documented construction spend at over EUR 583 million |
| 2022 seizure | Detained by Italian authorities at Marina di Carrara, Tuscany on 6 May 2022, on findings that her beneficial owner had links to sanctioned figures close to the Russian government. Her paper owner, former Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov, has never himself been placed on the EU sanctions list, which has kept the seizure's own legal footing publicly contested |
| Current status | Still under Italian judicial control as of September 2026, more than four years after the seizure; she left the dock for sea and engine trials for the first time in that period in late August 2026 before returning to the yard |
| Who is paying for her upkeep | The owner's offshore holding vehicle has continued to fund an estimated USD 10 to 14 million a year in crew, insurance and maintenance, separate from roughly USD 15 million Italy has spent on its own costs since 2022 |
| Charter status | Not chartered and not available for charter; the ongoing seizure and ownership dispute rule it out in any case |
| Note on the shipyard | The Italian Sea Group, parent of the yard holding and servicing her at Marina di Carrara, was placed under Italian court creditor protection in March 2026 and announced significant layoffs at the site later that year, a real and current risk to her upkeep |
Для кого: For the owner who wants a 140-metre Lurssen finished to the very highest standard for quiet, refined cruising.