A study in contrasts (Morocco)

Every so often you come across a scene of great contrasts. Morocco is a good example.  I was there a couple weeks ago (Tangiers and Casablanca).

(If you didn’t know where Morocco was, don’t feel bad.  I had no idea either until we pulled into Tangiers). You would expect to see contrasts in Morocco given that the first settlement of the area dates back 190,000 years. No kidding, people have been hanging out there for a long time. The fact that Morocco supplies an estimated 80% of the hash consumed in Europe may or may not play a role. More about Morocco to come later, so what about contrasts?  Try boats.

This is a small fishing boat in Tangiers

They get bigger

When they’re in the yard for repairs the colors are interesting

                                           

So far, not much in the way of contrast.  But check out what was sitting at the dock when we pulled into the harbor.

This is the “yacht” Azzam.  It just happens to be the largest (and most expensive) privately owned yacht in the world.

File photo from internet at time of launch from Lurssen yard in Germany

Details on the Azzam are sketchy, however, it was commissioned by Khalifa Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates (your petrol dollars at work). The Azzam is no less than 590 feet long (larger than the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and more capacious than many popular cruise ships). To put that into perspective, below is the second largest American owned yacht - Octopus (owned by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft).

Octopus is a measly 419 feet long (but still manages to carry 7 tenders, 2 helicopters, and 2 submarines). Both ships were built by Lurssen, but if you look closely, you will see some notable differences.  For example, look at the exhaust stacks on the Azzam.

The Azzam is powered by 4 engines.  Two diesels and two gas turbines. Judging by the exhausts, I would guess 3 generators as well. Propulsion is via 4 massive Ka-me-wa water jets (instead of conventional propellers).

Picture of the stern of Azzam from the internet

The two outboard jets (and a couple rudders) steer the boat (ship?) and the two centerline jets provide even higher speed. To get a feeling for the size of these jets, note the poor slob polishing the teak on the “swim platform”.

This is what a pump jet looks like in action.  I took this picture in the Naples harbor – it’s a much smaller ferry.

This is a pump jet wave piercing ferry in the Canary Islands.

The power on the Azzam is simply stunning. 95,000 horsepower.  Supposedly the Azzam is capable of speeds “in excess of 32 knots” in open water. Playing naval architect here, that would be the correct number (1.34 times the square root of the length of the hull at waterline), however, I wouldn’t be shocked if the boat will actually go faster.  If you look at the picture below you’ll see that Azzam has a flat bottom.

If you could get it up on plane it would go much faster (the Azzam only draws 14 feet – meaning it’s pretty shallow draft for a ship).  Who knows if 95,000 horsepower is enough? The King ain’t saying. This behemoth is supposedly available for charter; however, if you list a yacht as available for charter (whether or not you actually let someone take it out fishing) you can avoid certain European luxury taxes.

What does it cost to buy and own a boat like this?  The Azzam was built for $605,000,000!

In his book on the Lady Linda superyacht, author G. Bruce Knecht said that, "operating and maintaining a yacht is at least 10% of what the thing cost." By which estimation, just keeping the Azzam on the water could cost as much as $60 million every year.

That’s $5,000,000 a month!  Fuel consumption would be a real problem for extended voyages.  You’d need one of these to follow you around.

Next up – Fence Surfing in Sint Maarten.