Alia Yachts in Turkey has turned the aluminium hull of its 36-metre shadow vessel slated for delivery in 2021. Once complete it will support 55-60 metre Project Phi, the mothership currently in build at Royal Huisman in the Netherlands.

“This is a very interesting project for us which we foresee will provide a platform that can be adapted to meet the growing needs of other superyacht owners,” says Gokhan Çelik, president of Alia Yachts. “The principle challenge is that it has to be fast but also versatile and efficient. I’m particularly happy because the owner decided to build with us after visiting the shipyard and seeing the quality work we do.” 

While support vessels may be perceived as less important than their motherships, their design and function require a critical balance between quality and utility. In addition to providing enormous additional storage and increasing the autonomy of the mothership, they enhance the guest experience in terms of leisure and extra services, essentially striking the balance between quality and utility.

With a 157-sqm cargo deck, 45-sqm lazarette and 33-sqm workshop, the shadow vessel of 199GT will serve to transport tenders and toys, as well as a small car and extra fuel for the mothership to extend its range. It will also feature a large laundry and additional crew accommodation. Both the shadow vessel and the mothership have exterior styling by Dutch designer Cor D Rover and naval architecture by Van Oossanen, long-term Alia partners. 

“Although she’s basically a work horse with lots of storage for tenders and ’toys and a big 11.5 meter reaching 15,500kg capacity crane, the exterior lines and details have been styled to resemble the mothership,” says designer Cor D. Rover. “So, there is a distinct family resemblance, but as a shadow vessel her prime function is support the bigger yacht.”

“We developed the naval architecture and engineering together with the captain, who provided a lot of input,” says naval architect Perry van Oossanen. “Like the mothership, the vessel has a fast Displacement XL hull form, which combines the speed and efficiency advantages of the FDHF concept with the maximum length within a given gross tonnage category for optimal seakeeping and comfort.”

Powered by twin CAT C-32 main engines for a top speed of 21 knots, the shadow vessel will have a range of 4,200nm at a cruising speed of 12 knots. This means it will have the autonomy and performance to travel ahead of the mothership to make sure all the toys and tenders are ready for guests upon their arrival, and remain behind to load the tenders when the mothership moves on to the next destination, thus allowing seamless enjoyment for guests and eliminating the periods of waiting for everything to be boarded and stowed for travel.

Specifications

Length Overall: 36 m / 118’10”

Length Waterline: 34.44 m / 113’’

Beam Overall: 8.4 m / 37’6”

Draft: 1.90 m / 6’23’’

Displacement: 200 t

Gross Tonnage: 199 GT

Material of Hull: Aluminium Alloy 5083 H111

Material of Superstructure: Aluminium Alloy 5083 H111

Cargo Deck: 157 m2

Lazarette: 45 m2 with h:2.05m

Workshop on Main Deck: 33 m2 ( + 8 m2 provision store ) with h:2.05m

Main Engines: 2 x CAT C-32 E-rating Epo Tier3 IMO Tier2 (2 x 1900 bhp @2300 rpm)

Top Speed: 21 knots

Fuel Capacity: 57.400 litres / 15,163 gallons

Range at Cruising Speed (12kn): 4,200 nm