Review: Oceanco Yacht 269' "Alfa Nero"

In its own special corner of the salon, a jet black Grand Piano dominates; fit for a Dame Edna Everige grand concert in Carnegie Hall; perhaps Billy Joel; Or – considering its secretive hieroglyphic inscription – perhaps an AC/DC raucous paradiddle jam session. This model, one of only eight ever produced, earns a special ‘eclat for this location.

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One of several intimate dining areas on Alfa Nero, and possibly the most enchanting, is this Tea Room. With wall panels of goat skin, and patterned off-white woven carpeting against polished, parquet makassar wood, the wenge wood cabinetry and trim add a mysterious flair to the lavish setting.

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Two VIP suites are lavishly decorated and sumptuously furnished. One, the “red” version on the main deck, offers a fully carpeted bedroom and lounge, Taiping carpeting with woven marotte/anegre. At the starboard beam is a seating area with two couches and a coffee table. There is also a desk and computer work space, centered, while on the opposite beam is the king size berth and double-wide walk-in closet. The other VIP, the “green” version, is equal in size and amenities, but is located on the lower deck, as are the regular guest staterooms.

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Both VIP heads are extravagantly decorated, as well as following the decor theme, yet sport patterned inset tiles with woven marotte/giallo and elisa marble floors. Countertops are marble with inset alabaster wash basins.In addition, two more double guest cabins, port and starboard, offer similarly excellent furnishings. Each has its private ensuite head, as well as hanging lockers.

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A fifth guest stateroom offers twin berths, also with Taiping carpet, and ash/sycamore flooring, nicely decorated with individual bedlamps and bedside dressers. In all, Alfa Nero provides deluxe cabins for twelve passengers.

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Alfa’s ultra modern galley would be the envy, and playground, of any modern chef. With its broad, stainless steel food prep area centered on the composite blue stone floor – vast walk-around room – its cabinets and pantries hold all the first class Moeleker cooking gear for meals or banquets of any size. Double-door refrigerator/freezers are Koeling. Microwaves, convection ovens and cooktops are grouped for easy traffic flow. Crew movement and service is routed separately, away from passenger traffic.

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On the lower deck, crew quarters are also handsomely laid out, port and starboard, with ensuite heads, housing as many as 28. The crew area allows copious room for on and off duty, as well as relaxation. With its own kitchen and mess, carpeted passageways, there is ample space for the entire crew to dine in ease and comfort, in two adjoining rooms with booths. The crew mess sports vinyl marine teak decking, with beechwood walls and overhead lighting. Two 32” TVs add access to entertainment.

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Each crew cabin provides double over-under bunks, as well as a writing desk and hanging locker, plus handy shelf storage. Decking is vinyl marine teak, while cabinetry is beechwood. Ceilings are white matte, lacquered.

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At the heart of this yachting spectacle, her wheelhouse command center incorporates the latest in navigation and communications equipment: Tunnel thrusters and joystick steering for close quarters. Large, vertical, shaded windows allow superior views from the bridge, fully 200º. The open rear view also presents observation directly aft, exceptional for a ship of this size and conformation. Seven screens display integrated NACOS and DEBEG nautical systems, long and short vector radar, Inmarsat satellite communications, SSB, weather information, while a CCTV monitoring system continually scans the entire yacht, with a total of 18 cameras. These keep watch over the engine room as well as each deck, plus surrounding territories; with a night-vision view from the top mast. Chart tables and a leather couch/settee complete the well-outfitted bridge. A furnished Captain’s cabin and office adjoins just abaft. Also monitored and directed through this venue is Van Berge Henegouwen’s Crestron entertainment system which, through Sea Tel, offers more than 1,000 CDs and DVDs. Audio surround-sound is accessible throughout the yacht, in each room, dayhead, and lobby.

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Set next to the Engine room, the ultra sophisticated Engineer Station provides complete 24/7 monitoring of ship’s gear, as well as communication equipment throughout all operating phases. The Engineer is in contact with the Bridge at all times.

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Alfa Nero’s spotless engine room houses the powerful and efficient duo of MTU 16V 595 TE70 diesel engines. Access is from the stern or above deck, on scored aluminum flooring, with complete walk-around maintenance availability. Engine output totals 4,680 hp each. Among other large, vital equipment operating are three MTU8V 2000M540A generators @332kW; Brown Brothers/Rolls Royce Aquarius stabilizers; Jastram Bow thruster; Veth stern thruster; H.E.M. watermaker; air conditioning by Heinen & Hopman.

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Set up for world-wide schedules or imminent maintenance requirements, Alfa Nero’s tool room is fully equipped as necessary. The engineer's station can be seen through the window in the background.

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This robust BrownBrothers/Rolls-Royce Aquarius stabilizer system controls ship’s movements to counteract and constrain rolling and pitching in weather fluctuations. The 702 yacht boasts a 300 kW tunnel thruster forward and a 250 kW azimuthing aft. An excellent feature is that in a dire case of engine failure, the azimuthing thruster can actually be used as a 5-knot alternate to take the ship to the nearest port. It’s also handy for a slow cruise along anchorages or beaches.

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Schematically planned and part of the unseen but necessary heavy equipment, this complicated plumbing construct toils 24/7 within the ship’s vital organs. Shown here, Oceanco’s excellent planning results in effortless control and maintenance.

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The 268’ yacht boasts sleek lines and relatively low displacement volume for her size. Her hull design makes use of flattened areas which arguably require perhaps more attention to fairing than compound curvatures, but combined with the bulbous bow, her sea trials confirmed excellence. The bulbous bow, with its slightly upward curve, draws water lower along the bow's entry, thus reducing the bow wave.

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Turning twin Wartsila 5-blade propellers, Alfa Nero reaches a max speed of 20 to 21 knots. If you look closely, you will notice the reverse hook in the trailing edge of the hull's bottom. As a test to see if any of our viewers actually read our ramblings, who will explain the purpose of this hook in the hull?

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The three common-rail gensets are calibrated to deliver adequate loading when called upon by the automated power control. While merely one is necessary at normal operation, about 260 kW; the second automatically adds an additional 260 when needed. The third will contribute when the ship is maneuvering via thrusters. Shown here is the azimuthing thruster located in the stern. This deployable unit provides maneuvering thrust and if needed, serves as a redundant propulsion source in the event her main propulsion system is off-line.

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As we bid farewell on the most anticipated yacht in recent history, we're left wondering what's on the horizon? When Y701 & Y702 were merely snazzy renderings generated by the fertile minds of Nuvolari & Lenard, we beheld a glimpse of the future and the future has arrived. With the magnitude of creativity and innovation Oceanco has lavished on Alfa Nero - a yacht certain to inaugurate another great era of design for Oceanco and the yachting industry - we must wonder what the future will hold.

One thing's for sure... Alfa Nero generates the "WOW!" factor.

And we're still trying to catch our breath!



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Review by Capt. Chuck Gnaegy and YF Publisher Carl Camper​

Basic Specifications:

LOA: 269’
Beam: 46’7”
Draft: 12’10”
Gross Tonnage 2159 tons
Total Fuel: 77,667 gal.
Total Water: 32,176 gal.
Power: 2x MTU 16V 595 TE70
Hull: Steel
Superstructure: Aluminum
Speed Max: 20 knots
Speed Cruise: 14 knots
Range: 6,000 at cruise
Class: Lloyd’s Register 100A1 SSC Yacht (P)
Mono G6 LMC UMS LY2 compliance issued by MCA UK

For more information contact:

Oceanco Yachts
Gildo Pastor Cntr.
7 rue du Gabian
MC 98000 Monaco
+377 (-93) -10-02-81
www.****************

Alfa Nero; Expanded Specs: ​

Measurements:

LOA: 82.00 meters
LWL: 67.40 meters
Beam (max): 14.20 meters
Draft (loaded): 3.90 meters
Construction: Hull – Steel, Superstructure – Aluminum
Displacement: 2136 tons
Gross Tonnage: 2159 tons
Water capacity: 150,000 litres

Design & Management:

Naval architect: Oceanco / Azure
Exterior stylist: Nuvolari & Lenard
Interior designer: Alberto Pinto
Builder’s project manager: Jeroen Mulder
Owner’s project manager: Louis Rich, George Mourkakos

Power & Performance:

Main engines: 2 x 4,680 hp / 3,492 kW, MTU 16V 595 TE 70
Gearbox: Reintjes, type WAF 2355
Propellers/alternative propulsion: Wärtsilä (Lips)
Shafts: Rubber Design
Steering gear: Rolls Royce Marine AS Tenfjord, type SR 622-FCP
Exhaust systems: Marquip
Max Speed: 21 knots
Cruise Speed: 14 knots
Fuel capacity: 294,000litres
Range at economical cruising speed: 6,000 nautical miles
Tank testing: Based on Y701, which was tank tested at HSVA.

Onboard Systems:

Stabilizers: Rolls Royce Aquarius 50 (retractable with zero-speed option)
Windlass: Steen (electrically frequency driven)
Bow thruster: Jastram, type BU 50F, Input power 300 kW
Stern thruster: Veth, type VL 200 (retractable), Input power 250 kW
Passerelle & bathing ladder: Hydromar
Cranes: Van Driel
Exterior paint: Awlgrip system
Watermakers: H.E.M., type 40/4800, 2x 22,000 liters per day
Sewage system: Hamann
Generators: MTU 8V2000 M50A, 3 x 332 kW
Shorepower converter: Trafa, type BSD 242949, 400 kVA
Control and monitoring systems: Alewijnse
Air conditioning: Heinen & Hopman
Galley equipment: Moeleker
Refrigeration: NR Koeling
Entertainment systems: Van Berge Henegouwen; a Crestron controlled system with central sources from two Seatel antenna’s, Kaleidoscope music and video player, FM radio and terrestrial antenna with local placed plasma and LCD screen’s and a cinema in the upper deck salon.

Fire control system:

Marioff - interior watermist system
Novec - FiFi system in engine room
Viking - Fixed water FiFi system
Viking - Portable foam applicator for helicopter-deck
Viking - Portable powder / foam / CO2 extinguishers

Communications:

Inmarsat C DEBEG 3220C, Inmarsat MINI M, Inmarsat F77, SSB radio DEBEG 3105 150W, VHF DEBEG 6301, DEBEG RT 5022

Navigation:

Integrated Navigation System SAM, NACOS 65-5; 2x DEBEG 3400 DGPS and imrad GN33D systems, DEBEG 4630 Echo sounder, SAM 4120 Speed log

Accommodations:

Number of owner/guest cabins:

1 Master stateroom
2 double VIP suites
1 double guest cabin
2 twin guest cabins

Number of crew cabins:

1 double captain’s cabin
1 single engineer’s cabin
12 twin bunked crew cabins
1 triple bunked crew cabin

Noise and vibration levels: (dB in key areas at 80% MCR)

Owner’s suite 43 dB(A)
Dining area 45 dB(A)
Main saloon 49 dB(A)
Upper saloon 48 dB(A)
Guest cabins 40 dB(A)
Captain’s cabin 38 dB(A)
Crew cabins 40 dB(A)

Tenders:

Yachtwerft Meyer, custom build limo guest tender
Novurania MX 780 DL, custom made crew tender Correct craft, Ski Nautique 196 limited

Launching systems:

1 overhead davit, hydraulically operated
2 overhead rotating cranes, hydraulically operated

Deck Plans (1) - Top to Bottom...

1. Skylounge Deck
2. Upper Deck

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