Even though Lürssen upgraded Dock 10, which was built in 1966, with an architecturally appealing roof construction, this morning still has a solid shipbuilding ambience. Highly polished stainless steel parts, propellers, pallets and shipyard employees in neon yellow high-visibility waistcoats. In the middle of it all is an opera singer in a red evening gown belting out an aria. She is initially standing on an aft deck cantilever, as can be found on the "Blue", which was delivered a good two months ago. The superstructure with the integrated flaps for the lifeboats and the top deck with the striking tailpipes also speak in favour of another Giga design by Terence Disdale.
And as with the launch of the 160 metre long "Blue", the owner spared himself the fuss of the actual yacht name and stuck with the project name "Opera". Another parallel to "Blue" could still be seen lying in the dock and in the video. The 146 metres also rely on two external shaft systems with controllable pitch propellers and a central pod drive at the stern.
Opera" is said to be the follow-up order to the Lürssen project "Sassi", on which a major fire broke out four years ago in Bremen Aumund, almost completely destroying the well advanced yacht. Only the engine room is said to have emerged from the dismantling in Hamburg. In summer 2021, the converted Dock 10 took on the 146-metre-long steel-aluminium hull. After the largest covered floating dock in Europe with a length of 287 metres was transported to Bremen together with its fully painted contents, it still had to be moved to Neustadt harbour. It was only there that the water depth was sufficient to lower and release "Opera".
With such a launch effort and the previous history of "Opera", a ceremony like the one shown in the video is hardly surprising.
