$250 Million Superyacht 'Honolulu' Lost in Major Fire at Lurssen Shipyard

A massive fire broke out at one of the Lurssen yards, and a $250 million superyacht is just one of the vessels lost.

On July 2, workers inside the Rendsburg facility alerted authorities about smoke coming out from one of the vessels in dry dock, indicating a smoldering fire. Within hours and with firefighters no longer able to try to extinguish the blaze from inside, the entire hall was engulfed in flames, including the superyacht that is believed to have started it all.

It took almost 400 emergency responders 20 hours to put out the fire, which ultimately consumed the hall and caused it to collapse. Everything inside is said to be a total loss, including the superyacht, which has been identified by one trade publication as Project Honolulu, a superyacht with a late-2024 delivery date.

The silver lining is that the fire didn't result in serious casualties. Reports in the local media note that one worker had to be rushed to the hospital after receiving minor injuries and that 24 others had to receive medical assistance after smoke inhalation. Authorities were able to evacuate both the burning hall and surrounding homes in due time, and they also issued alerts to residents in the area to avoid opening the windows or using ventilation or AC systems while the building was still on fire due to the heavy smoke.

Because the incident is now subject to an investigation, Lurssen can't go into specifics. In an industry were privacy and secrecy are the hottest commodities, the shipyard would most likely not reveal too many details either way.

"The fire that occurred on Tuesday in a shipbuilding hall at the Lürssen-Kröger shipyard has been extinguished since the early hours of the morning," a spokesperson for Lürssen says in a statement. "We will now begin the clean-up work step by step in coordination with the responsible authorities."

As of July 3, the shipyard was still closed, as was the Kiel Canal. Lurssen says that they will be keeping their employees up to speed with developments, specifically the date when they can return to work.

As for the superyacht that might have caused all this, it's presumably Project Honolulu, a 246-foot (78-meter) vessel believed to have been commissioned by an unnamed Saudi Arabian billionaire. No serious shipyard will ever put a price tag on its vessels, let alone do so before delivery to the owner, but buzz online claims that Honolulu is valued at approximately $250 million. Or, better said, "was."

This isn't the first time that an incident at a major shipyard highlights the risks of working on high-value assets, and neither is it the first time that a Lurssen superyacht has been lost to fire. In 2018, a floating dock at the Bremen facility burned down with 476-foot (145-meter) Project Sassi inside. It is believed that the 2022 delivery Opera, a megayacht valued at $450 million, is whatever was left of Project Sassi turned into a bigger and more luxurious leisure craft. A sort of floating Phoenix, if you will.

It remains to be seen whether Lurssen or the owner will be able to salvage anything from Project Honolulu.