Golden Odyssey

LENGTH: 262ft. 10in. (80.15m)
SHIPYARD: Blohm + Voss, Germany
YEAR: 1990

Blohm + Voss has built several of the Middle East’s iconic vessels, including Golden Odyssey. Saudi Prince Khaled Al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz owns Golden Odyssey, the largest of his “Golden Fleet”. The explorer-style yacht often navigates with the Marco Yachts-built support yacht Golden Shadow, the 98-foot sport fisherman Golden Osprey, and the Golden Eye Cessna 280 seaplane equipped with Wipaire floats. Guests on the exclusive Golden Odyssey, which is occasionally available for charter, can enjoy a gigantic live coral aquarium located below, and visible from, the glass-bottomed swimming pool. Golden Odyssey, which was refitted and extended 14 feet in 1995, sails all over the world. A keen diver and amateur oceanographer, the Prince founded the Living Oceans Foundation, an organization dedicated to the exploration of the world’s seas. Golden Shadow, which carries a variety of speedboats and other toys, is equipped with environmentally friendly waste and water systems and houses a laboratory for marine research that provides data to the worldwide scientific community. In April 2011, Prince Khaled welcomed a group of scientists to celebrate the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation’s 10-year anniversary. The prince, a keen diver and SeaKeepers award recipient, dedicates time and significant resources to oceanographic research, making his vessels (especially the well equipped Golden Shadow) available for scientific missions, He hosted a magnificent reception at the Epic Marina in Miami on the eve of a new expedition, this time to the Bahamas. Past expeditions have included the Red Sea and the Farasan Banks, home to reefs and colorful marine life.

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