Asean Lady

LENGTH: 289ft. 2in. (88.15m)
SHIPYARD: Yantai Raffles, China
YEAR: 2004

Brian Chang’s Yantai Raffles is responsible for Nero, the Top 100 yacht resembling the historic Corsair, as well as boats like the largest semi-submersible yacht transport vessel in the world, Yacht Express for Dockwise Transport. Back in 2004, the versatile shipyard also launched Asean Lady, the only yacht in the world based on a proa design that has been used for more than 2,000 years for fishing crafts throughout the Pacific region. This very stable vessel is co-owned by the Chang family and self-made Malaysia-based billionaire Vincent Tan, who uses it mostly for business according to a Forbes article. Due to its innovative design Asean Lady has exceptional living space relative to her dimensions and her reduced wetted surface requires only a single 2,000-hp Caterpillar engine coupled to a Rolls-Royce Aquamaster azimuth drive with twin rotating propellers. Asean Lady was in Indonesia during the catastrophic tsunami and played an active role in rescue operations. Chang, a native of South Africa and a graduate of the London School of Engineering, founded Yantai Raffles in 1994, building upon 40 years of expertise in the shipbuilding industry. He retains a stake after selling nearly 30 percent to China International Marine Containers in 2008. The Asean Lady project at Yantai Raffles, decorated by Mrs. Chang, helped test various aspects of building superyachts in China.

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