Following Ulysses, Norwegian commercial shipyard Kleven plans to build another new 100m Explorer in partnership with Lurssen , a German giant in the superyacht market. Earlier this year, Lurssen acquired a stake in Kleven.
Kleven, a Norwegian shipyard, has previously built expedition-class vessels. In 2015, the 107-metre explorer Ulysses was launched. The final phase of construction took place at Dorries Marine's docks in Bremerhaven, Germany.
The vessel was commissioned by New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart, who until recently owned it. The 107-meter Explorer Ulysses became the most expensive yacht ever sold in 2017, with a price tag of $195 million, the final purchase amount has not been disclosed. The same Kleven shipyard also built another larger Ulysses expedition vessel for Graham Hart. The hull was designed by Marin Teknik in collaboration with Kyle Dick of Oscar Mike Naval Architects. The 116m Explorer was launched in the summer of 2016.
«I am very pleased with the quality of work done by the Kleven team and our collaboration that has brought this exciting project to fruition»," Graham Hart said in November 2014.
Similar to the construction of the Ulysses expedition yachts, the assembly of the hull of the new 100m Explorer will take place at Kleven's facilities in Norway, and then the interior fitting out of the vessel will be done by Lurssen at the Blom+Voss yard in Germany. No details about the identity of Kleven's new client have yet been reported.
