Number one is 180 m long, and in its engine room houses over 70 kW of drive power – it’s indisputably the most powerful mega-yacht in the world. Number two, the 138-m Rising Sun, is capable of delivering half of that output, so has no need to hide. Place no. 9 in the rankings is occupied by Indian Empress, 95-m long and boasting three 20-cylinder mtu units that deliver a whole 22,074 kW for acceleration up to 25 knots. At the end of the day, mega-yachts are all about superlatives: on the deck, luxury knows no limits, and down in the engine room, horsepower craziness reigns.
The specialist journal “Boote Exklusiv” ('Exclusive Boats') has issued a ranking of the ten most powerful mega-yachts. Seven of them have mtu in their engine room. The propulsion concepts behind them are as varied as the yachts themselves. Some are straightforward and consist of mtu’s biggest and most powerful engine (the 20V 8000), that delivers 10,000 kW. In others, a combined solution with diesel engines and gas turbines has been chosen. These offer the advantage of fuel economy over long distances or during cruising, when just the diesel engine is brought on stream. When high speeds are needed, the gas turbine can be switched in. These system packages include propulsion and automation, and are tailored by mtu to meet the customer’s specific needs.
