| Kingship Marine 110 |  |
The Chinese waters of Double Haven were steaming hot and humid.
But compared to the stifling atmosphere of Hong Kong, it was paradise. Double
Haven’s sparkling, tropical, emerald green waterways rimmed with dense shrubbery
and golden rock shores made us feel a world away. Our journey took us from the
planet’s most futuristic skyline, past industrial shores to remote white sand
beaches and floating fish markets aboard aging junks as we passed the limits of
Hong Kong and entered the People’s Republic of China, where Princess
K had just been launched.
Princess K, Kingship Marine’s new Magellan 110 ocean
explorer, a steel-hulled, full-displacement motor yacht, had just emerged from
the company’s new yard in Zhongshan. Just one year earlier, Kingship’s
expedition yacht China appeared as the Orient’s first yacht with full MCA
compliance and Lloyd’s certification. Princess K is now China’s latest
and finest megayacht to date. She is Kingship owner Roger Liang’s pet project,
the one he put on hold when the owner of China requested his own boat be
first off the shipyard’s line. | Click on the Specs tab at top to see complete list of resources. |
Top: The dining salon features honey-tinted maple and LED lighting. Middle: T
he master bath with Jacuzzi tub. Bottom: The on-deck full-width master. (Click images to enlarge)
Princess K was worth the wait and exemplifies China’s
growing sophistication in yachtbuilding. She is the result of Liang pulling
together an all-star cast that includes stylist Pieter Beeldsnijder of PB
Design, Holland’s Vripak engineering and naval architecture, and Luiz de Basto’s
interior design. To support them, Liang hired the finest steel welders and
craftsmen China had to offer and provided them with a new seven-bay, 60-acre
facility capable of building 75-meter yachts and launching up to 800 tons on an
impressive dual rail and lifting grid. The yard has on-site housing for more
than 180 employees. The riverside complex in Guangdong Province sits among
banana plantations, fish farms and tiny villages, and lies across the river from
one of China’s most industrialized ports.
Liang’s intent to build the finest yacht produced in China, in
a state-of-the-art facility, involved not only assembling a top-shelf group of
contributors, but it also exhibited the foresight to pre-cut and bend the steel
in Europe under Vripak’s guidance and then ship it to China, where he employed
on-site expertise throughout the project’s pivotal stages. Princess K’s
launch has ignited the group with the motivation for more builds, but for now,
having the yacht on display in rarely cruised local waters was inspiration
enough.
Minutes after the first gilded light of sunrise glanced off her
aluminum superstructure, Princess K steamed through the pass at a smooth
14 knots. The boat was quiet and handled herself deftly at top speed between
slender straits.
Powered by twin Caterpillar 3406E DITAs, Princess K
sports a 4,500-mile range at 12 knots. She was built to serve as Kingship’s
ambassador to the megayacht arena by cruising the world and showcasing a finish
equal to the finest yachts in the industry.
"I wanted the boat to have classic proportions with a balanced
profile for a lasting appeal and contemporary styling inside and on deck,
utilizing techniques that present us as a modern builder," explains Liang. "We
analyzed the features of every 110 on the market and decided with this
construction and volume we could greatly increase livable space. The result is
an interior layout and deck arrangement with more functional space, maximum
visibility and oceangoing seaworthiness required for long-term, deepwater
cruising."
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