Another world far away that I will never visit – Yachts so luxurious they have their own support yacht. Part 1

Photo by James Ulvog.

While on vacation recently in San Diego I saw a huge yacht parked in San Diego harbor. This one looked weird, with a helicopter and several boats on the deck. A few hours later another yacht pulled into the harbor, dropping anchor many hundred feet away.

Photo by James Ulvog.

Noticed the name on the side of the first ship was Hodor. Well, of course I did a quick check on the ole’ internet and learned it is a support yacht.

Now this solid-ground-loving city boy has never encountered the concept of a support yacht. Turns out that if you don’t want to chew up too much space on your luxurious yacht you can buy another yacht to carry along your helicopter, submarine, and a variety of chase boats.

Yes, a support yacht. The Hodor carries the “toys” that cannot fit on the Lonian mothership. Yes “toys” and “mothership” are the words used in the trade press to describe these ships.

Some background you can check out:

The Lonian is 87 m long, which is 285 feet. Built in 2018, it has accommodations for 12 guests and 27 crew members.

Photo by James Ulvog.

It has a swimming pool on the deck and a gym forward below deck.

The Hodor is 66 meters, or a mere 216 feet long. It is operating with 20 crew members. Guest quarters are described as “luxurious”, but the two articles I looked at do not quantify the accommodations for guests.

My little brain calculates a combined 153 meters, or 501 feet of yacht(s).

It carries five tenders (small support ships used to transfer passengers from the support ship to the mothership, or from ship to shore). The largest is a 56 foot chase boat. Article says it has four engines. I observed five while it was in San Diego. It is stored on a lift platform and lowered to the water when it is launched.

There is a flight deck for helicopter operations. Article says it can handle helicopters up to 6 tons listing the EC145 as one option. That obviously means it has storage for helicopter fuel, storage for a large selection of parts, and obviously a workshop to support helicopter operations.

Good view of catamaran shape. Photo by James Ulvog.

There is a remotely operated vehicle on the foredeck. I’ve not read any reference to size or capacity.

The yacht can carry and launch a submarine. Yes, a submarine.

The Hodor supports dive operations, including a decompression chamber.

The yacht has a small hospital.

Next post: Wild guesses on cost of the yachts.

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