The Lady Moura Yacht

Lady Moura is widely known as the world’s very first mega yacht, built at a time before the notion even existed. The name ‘Lady Moura’ is a portmanteau of Saudi billionaire Nasser al-Rashid and his ex-wife Mount Ayoub, combining her first name with his last name to create ‘Moura’, says Rachel Smith.
 

Designed by Italian architect Luigi Sturchio and built in the German shipyard of Blohm Voss, this luxury vessel is a fully custom build that aimed to mimic a multi-generational and family-ready leisure craft. It has a distinctive coat of arms made of 24-carat gold, as well as a 105-metre (344 ft) seven-deck, palatial interior. The hull and superstructure are made of steel and it possesses twin diesel Deutz engines which each have 6,868 horsepower. At the time of its construction, Lady Moura was one of the most expensive and innovative private yachts in the world, distinctly standing out as the ninth largest ever created at a cost of over $200 million USD (equivalent to $425 million in 2024).

With an internal volume of 6,539 Gross Tonnes (GT), Lady Moura was designed to easily accommodate up to 26 guests across 13 suites and is capable of carrying up to 65 crew members onboard. Today, Lady Moura is valued at $125,000,000, which is the price paid for the super yacht by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. The Mexican founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas is the current owner as of 2021, and annual running costs of the vessel are estimated to be around $12 million.
 

VISUALLY STRIKING AND FUNCTIONAL

Lady Moura’s water tanks store approximately 333,000 litres of fresh water and she comfortably reaches a maximum speed of 22 knots with a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles. Built in 1990 by a team of experts who paid meticulous attention to every minute detail, there were a total of five years of construction and an added year for engineering on this vessel. This ultimately produced a technical marvel which set the new standard in yachting. The plethora of pop-up and fold-out elements incorporated into the architecture of the yacht were ahead of its time for 1990, heralding a design that was both visually striking and functional.
 

Dubbed ‘The Original Superyacht’ Lady Moura, features groundbreaking elements like a unique indoor swimming pool equipped with a retractable-roof (making it useable year round), a movie theatre, beauty salon, elevator, underwater lights, and a helicopter pad. The beach club is another innovative feature and is a lounge at the water’s edge, providing easy access to and from the ocean. Lady Moura even has its own sewage treatment plant and the ability to remain afloat for up to three months without the requirement to dock for provisions or fuel.   EG