Ocean of Dreams

The 384-foot (117-meter) motor yacht Infinity joined the Oceanco fleet in 2022—not only the largest ship the firm has ever built, but the largest ever built in the Netherlands. The product of a cooperative project between the owner and a host of design and engineering firms, including Espen Øino International, Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design, David Kleinberg Design Associates, and Lateral Naval Architects, it is a truly collaborative effort. “She is the result of impressive teamwork from the owner’s team and all Oceanco’s co-makers and strategic partners,” says Marcel Onkenhout, CEO of Oceanco. “She represents the true power of co-makership that is central to all our projects.”

With seven decks and spacious accommodations for 16 guests, Infinity’s designers focused on creating a serene, calming space for passengers, with a wide array of wellness amenities on board, including a spa, sauna, gym and yoga studio. Equally impressive—and similarly dedicated to guests’ total relaxation—the ship’s invisible underpinnings feature mechanical systems that prioritize low noise and vibration levels and a hull optimized to deliver exceptional stability and hydrodynamic efficiency at sea.

“We have worked hard to develop a solid reputation for building ‘atypi­cal’ superyachts, and we thrive on achieving what has never been attempted before,” says Oceanco’s Group Marketing Director, Paris Baloumis. “Be­cause we work exclusively on custom superyachts, we are used to working on challenging projects. Our clients confront us with ambitions and they talk to us in ‘what ifs.’ When they talk like this, we feel the chemistry.”

While the precise details of most Oceanco interiors are kept tight­ly under wraps, the owners of the curvaceous 295-foot (90-meter) Oceanco DAR, launched in 2018, have caught a glimpse of its ingenuity. Envisioned by Miami-based designer Luiz de Basto, DAR began as an experimental concept for a glass-wrapped yacht that afforded passen­gers expansive views of their exotic ports of call. Sheathed in a facade of curved, tinted glass—4300 square feet (400 square meters) of it on the superstructure alone—DAR’s design makes every effort to ensure passengers’ privacy, without sacrificing the view.

Of course, when it came to building such a unique, cutting-edge vessel to the highest standards, de Basto chose to collaborate with Oceanco on the project. Working closely alongside Valentina Zannier of Italian studio Nuvolari Lenard, de Basto and Oceanco brought to life spectacular features like an oval swimming pool complete with a stabilized waterfall that compensates for the movement of the ship, and a pair of folding carbon masts that shade the sundeck while com­plementing the vessel’s shapely architecture.

Interior details are no less ornate, with upholstery and decor ren­dered in 120 different fabrics, 24 saddle leathers and a wide range of other premium materials from glass to antiqued bronze. “The inspi­ration was totally coming from the world of nature,” Zannier said in a 2018 interview, adding that she was given exceptional creative freedom on the project by DAR’s owners. “When you come aboard DAR you’re very comfortable and you’re not getting bored,” she said of the project. “It’s very light and easy, but still very well decorated.”

In keeping with this theme, motifs of trees, flowers, waves and sea life can be found throughout DAR’s interior, from a frescoed forest of swirling leaves painted on the ceiling of the “sea lobby” to Zannier’s personal favorite element, a school of bas-relief fish swimming up the grand interior staircase. It’s details like these, and the elite level of de­sign and craftsmanship required to achieve them, that make DAR the vessel its owners dreamed of. At Oceanco, of course, making dreams come true is simply business as usual.