During the invitation only, VIP evening of  the 2018 Dubai International Boat Show held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Oceanco unveiled the 115 metre Long ‘Tuhura’ Superyacht. An extraordinary oceancraft designed in collaboration with award –winning Lobanov Design and leading engineering experts, BMT, the Tuhura Superyacht is indicative of Oceanco’s vision of the next generation superyacht.

“This is a technically challenging and intriguing project, iIt is 180-degrees different from our previous two yacht collaborations with Lobanov Design studio, the 86m launched in 2013 and the 110m Jubilee launched just last year. Yet Tuhura is still 100 percent Oceanco DNA.” – Dirk de Jong, Commercial Director, Oceanco.

Oceanco Unveils 115 metre Long ‘Tuhura’ Superyacht

The Tuhura Superyacht, Oceanco’s latest project, was conceived in collaboration with the Lobanov Design studio, BMT Nigel Gee and interior designer Achille Salvagni. “Our Tuhura is a simple idea,” explains Igor Lobanov of his namesake design studio, “The thought was to take a natural shape similar to those seen in the earliest canoe-type craft and augment it multifold to a larger scale, using modern technology.”

Indeed, the Oceanco Tuhura is truly in a category of its own, unlike any superyacht on the market. Lobanov took design muse back to mankind’s earliest forays into oceancraft with exterior styling reminiscent of early canoes; dugouts and other vessels used hundreds of years ago by indigenous people all over the world.

The Oceanco Tuhura Superyacht takes particular inspiration for the Polynesians who made famously made long voyage explorations across thousands of miles of open Pacific Ocean in their outrigger canoes. The thinking behind Tuhura’s unmistakable hull follows basic primal forms designed to evoke a sense of exploration and discovery. In fact, the actual name, ‘Tuhura’ is derived from the Maori verb meaning: to discover, bring to light, unearth, open up, explore, and investigate.

The main inspiration for the interior design follows the exterior in taking cultural references from East Asia and the Pacific islands. The latest Oceanco superyacht features a interior “brushed teak habitat” (floors, walls, ceilings) including thin reveals in gunmetal and natural bronze with tatami floors, radiating peace and calmness with the softness and dynamicity conveying exquisite elegance and sensuality of the primitive organic shapes echoed in the exterior of the oceancraft.

Innovation and cutting-edge technology is evident throughout the design of the Oceanco Tuhura. The hull of the superyacht has been conceived with multiple horizontal windows, utilising an advanced glass technology that consists of a series of dots, allowing the view from within to be completely transparent, while from the exterior, the windows appear the same colour as the hull, disguising their appearance. Glass features further in the impressive black superstructure made up of flat glass panels.

“The hybrid CRP (contra-rotating propulsion) system is inherently efficient and perfectly suited to the canoe form, there is a synergy between the efficiency of the hull form, and that of the propulsion system, leading to a yacht which marries an evolutionary simple hull with an evolutionary advanced propulsion system” – James Roy, Yacht Design Director at BMT

Tuhura’s hull and propulsion system have been developed in collaboration with BMT. The pure simplicity of the canoe form leads to a naturally efficient hull with low overall resistance, good seakeeping and excellent maneuverability. However integrating a modern propulsion system in the canoe form presents a challenge and the team opted for a hybrid Azipod® CRP (contra-rotating) propulsion system from ABB. The development of this CRP system was initially trialed in 2003 and it is currently being applied with success on commercial and consumer vessels like the Oceanco Tuhura superyacht.

Progressive and creative thinking extends to all the systems aboard. LuxLab, the custom design label from Van Berge Henegouwen (VBH) supported Oceanco  to ensure that the Tuhura featured the pinnacle of superyacht technologies, making it essentially a “smart boat.” Not only are there controls for HVAC, lighting, audio, video, curtains and such, but controls will also monitor behavior aboard regarding preferences such as music and temperature. Furthermore, there are plans to create a 360 room, a multipurpose space for both interactive design and information.

Oceanco Tuhura Superyacht technical Specifications

Length 115m / 377ft
Draft 3.9m / 9.8ft
Speed 18 knots
Propulsion System Hybrid Contra Rotating Propeller System (with ABB)

For more information: visit oceanco