Five years after the first stone was laid, Feadship has pompously opened the new shipyard in the port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
The Queen herself graced the event with her presence.
While visiting 19 Feadship classic yachts on show at the quayside, and meeting young graduates of the Feadship Academy, Madam Maxima had a private tour of the facility.
The new 425,000 cubic metre facility will be used to build and refit boats up to 160 metres in length.
«» This new facility will allow Feadship to continue to drive innovation and build history-changing superyachts," said Toni Belloni , managing director of the LVMH group (owner of Royal Van Lent).
According to Feadship management, the yard is «the most eco-friendly superyacht yard in the world».
The energy efficiency of the production facility is excellent with waste-to-energy heating, LED lighting and over two thousand solar panels dotting the roof of the main building generating an estimated 550,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year.
The shipyard in Amsterdam has been in operation since the beginning of the year: first the 110-metre Feadship Anna left the docks after her rebuild, and then the 93-metre Lady S became the first yacht to be built at the state-of-the-art facility. The 88.38-metre Project 816 was also delivered here for completion just prior to the official opening of the yard.
