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Expedition Yachts for Sale

For anyone looking for expedition yachts for sale, these are a quickly-growing market in the yachting world, as increasing numbers of yacht owners choose to get off the beaten track and indulge in some remote cruising! Here is the full current selection of all expedition yachts for sale worldwide with photos and full specifications for each.

Expedition yachts, often called explorer yachts, are extremely versatile. As much at home in the wilds of Alaska as sitting pretty in the glamorous port of Monaco, expedition yachts are built to cross the world’s oceans while offering the extraordinary comfort of a luxury yacht.

The explorer vessel featured above, LEGEND Expedition Yacht For Sale, is a 254-foot or 77m Icon Expedition yacht available for sale. She is the only ice breaking mega yacht in the world. The proven world cruiser features a panorama Jacuzzi on the main deck, large sales throughout, welcoming cocktail bars, Movie theaters, Exclusive Balinese Spa (pictured below) and a gym.

AKULA Expedition Yacht For Sale – for full specifications and photos, click on the link.

Expedition yachts for sale are also becoming increasingly common options for new-build construction projects, but there are also many existing expedition yachts that have been converted from commercial vessels. As such, often expedition yachts for sale have wonderful histories as research ships, hospital ships, ice-breakers, trawlers and military vessels, and are now enjoying their latest incarnation as impressive luxury yachts.

Often sporting a more functional exterior, the interior of explorer vessels are as palatial and luxurious as their traditional superyacht counterparts. Expedition-style yachts tend to have a wider beam, thereby offering more volume for larger cabins and interior spaces. The yacht’s generous interior spaces are designed for live-aboard comfort for extended periods, and many of these yachts will have living quarters or suites for the owners, rather than smaller cabins.

STAMPEDE Expedition Yacht For Sale – for full specifications and photos, click on the link.

Outside you’ll find generous open decks with elegant dining and entertaining spaces, with all the luxuries you’d expect on a superyacht.  Jacuzzis, helipads and observation decks are common features found on expedition yachts for sale.

Expedition yachts are sometimes nicknamed ‘toy carriers’, as they have plenty of space to carry the tenders and water sports equipment you’ll want as you cruise exotic places. Explorer yachts for sale often carry crew who are trained as instructors, so you might learn diving, jetski, kitesurfing or even photography while cruising the South Pacific or the Galapagos.

Because they’re built as sturdy ocean-going vessels, expedition yachts are built with a strong focus on safety, self-sufficiency and comfort underway. Some expedition yachts have reinforced ice-breaker hulls for exciting Arctic expeditions, and all have modern stabilization technology and state-of-the-art safety systems. Expedition yachts are built with large fuel tanks giving them exceptional range, while onboard water-makers and excellent cold and dry storage allows them to make long sea voyages without needing to stop for supplies. Because they are built to be away from port for long periods, expedition yachts normally carry the best in communication, entertainment and Wi-Fi capabilities.

THE BIG BLUE Expedition Yacht For Sale – for full specifications and photos, click on the link.

Expedition yachts allow the yacht owner to get to all corners of the world, opening up beautiful destinations otherwise difficult to reach. From the snowy landscapes and penguins of Antarctica to the coral reefs and jungles of Micronesia, an expedition yacht opens up the world for exploration.

There are a multitude of options available for expedition vessels. Above are examples of existing brokerage vessels. Other options to consider include Full Custom Builds and Semi Custom Builds. A Fully Custom Expedition yacht build is a ground up design and specification package, which will include tank testing of hull forms, 3D modeling, etc. A Semi Custom Expedition Build includes an existing hull form and common engineering package, already being used and then customizing the house styling, layout and décor.

The 80m Explorer Yacht, unnamed, is an example of a Fully Custom Explorer Build. The vessel includes float in float out wet dock that will be able to hold a 65-70 foot sport fisherman in the stern, when the sport fish is removed the tender well becomes a deep swimming pool.  She is diesel electric with Azipod drives.   The vessel has the capability of landing two helicopters and can house both helicopters in a single hangar.  The vessel also has a large tender garage that could hold multiple smaller vessels including a RIB, flats boat, jets skis and two submarines.  The vessel has accommodations for 18 guests and crew of 36.  The vessel would be commercial fit and finish on the exterior and the interior are envisioned to be built to high end cruise ship standards.

The 75m Explorer, by Admiral Shipyards is an example of a Semi Custom Build. The yacht’s exterior design, which remains unnamed, is a display of an elegant yet robust platform with generous exterior deck spaces. The expansive aft deck is designed to accommodate an Agusta Grande helicopter, complete with a storage and refueling hangar below deck.

The interior is spread across four decks and will be finished in a timeless nautical style that is finished with contemporary elements, which will be built and installed by German interio specialists, Fitz Interior. The owner, who is expected to spend prolonged period onboard, will be treated to an exclusive main deck area covering over 300 square metres with five additional guest suites on the lower deck.

Explorer yachts look a little bit different and offer extraordinary cruising potential, marking an exciting difference in the luxury yacht market for those who love an adventure on the open ocean. If you are be interested in viewing our full portfolio of exhibition yachts for sale, reach out to the sales team by email , by this sales inquiry form or by calling one of our yacht brokerage offices worldwide.

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Ice Class Yacht

Conversion Project MASTER // Icon Yachts

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LA DATCHA // 77m Damen SeaXplorer

LA DATCHA is the name of a Damen SeaXplorer motor yacht in a 77m version.Damen Yachting launched the new luxurious expedition yacht LA DATCHA in July 2020 at the facilities in Vlissingen in the south…

80m Hybrid Explorer Yacht // Gill Schmid Design

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Alongside the 85m supply vessel presented in 2017, Rosetti Superyachts comes up with 48m version.Like the other yacht concepts, also the RSY 48 comes has been designed by Tommaso Spadolini. This…

Argo - 48m Explorer by Rossinavi and Ken Freivokh

Rossinavi and yacht designer Ken Freivokh presenting the 48m concept ARGO.ARGO is a multi-talented and eye-catching explorer yacht concept with the largest open deck in her class. The big aft deck…

103m Concept 'Sea Hawk' by Hawk Yachts

The SEA HAWK is an extremely stylish ground- and ice-breaking expedition yacht concept, developed by Hawk Yachts.SEA HAWK features Polar Class 6 to break 80 cm first-year ice. In combination with…

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Damen (the mother company of Amels) presents a concept of a massive designed expedition ice class yacht called SeaXplorer - A luxury SUV for the seven seas.Damen is normally the part of commercial…

AZAMANTA // Heesen Yachts

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I-NOVA // Cosmo Explorer

The Greek shipyard Cosmo Explorer built the 50m I-Nova in 2013 to a Cristiano Gatto design who is responsible for the exterior and interior design.The yard and designer developed I-Nova as a D0 ice…

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Boat of the Week: This 251-Foot Ice-Class Superyacht Has Explored the Remotest Waters on Earth

Inspired by an ocean explorer, bacteriologist and comic-book character, "yersin" was built with a three-part ethos—a.s.e.—which stands for adventure, science and education., julia zaltzman, julia zaltzman's most recent stories.

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Few people have created a yacht with their favorite comic-book character in mind. In fact, the owner of the 251-ft. luxury ice-breaker Yersin carried it even farther by including a world-famous ocean explorer and renowned bacteriologist as the triumvirate that heavily influenced the design.

“I drew inspiration for Yersin from Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the great physician-bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin and the intrepid Tintin,” the owner told Robb Report . “These influences contributed to the ethos around the boat—A.S.E.—which stands for adventure, science and education.” Tintin, of course, was the Belgian comic-book character who traveled the world with his dog, Snowy, solving unsolvable crimes.

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The owner—who, unlike his heroes, asked to remain anonymous—created something quite novel when he built Yersin , not only because it was an authentic explorer yacht, but also a “sustainable” project from France’s Piriou shipyard. Classified as a Bureau Veritas Clean Ship, its decks are made from non-wood recyclable resin and its exhaust catalysts filter 99.8 percent of fine particles. An advanced water treatment kills resistant bacteria, and the hull is coated in silicon non-biocide and antifouling paint, so that the boat won’t carry potentially infectious microbes on its voyages. On board, it’s equipped with scientific laboratories to facilitate academic research on new species.

The go-anywhere explorer was designed to leave no footprint.  Courtesy Fraser Yachts

So that takes care of the Cousteau and Yersin elements. In Tintin mode, the owner and his crew have traveled the world since the boat’s delivery in 2015, from tundra at the Arctic Circle to palm-fringed islands of Micronesia.

The maiden voyage was extreme and arduous, hundreds of miles of cruising in remote parts of Iceland and Greenland, then crossing Baffin Bay and cruising down Baffin Island, through Labrador, Newfoundland and New Brunswick, ending the journey in Nova Scotia. On this voyage of discovery, the yacht encountered polar bears—“five, including a couple of cubs”—on Baffin Island, ice floes, gale-force winds and night-long sightings of the northern lights, or aurora borealis.

Greenland was his favorite. The island country—slightly bigger than Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom put together—had wide open spaces, with plenty of local fauna and wildlife. “The landscape is vast, the air is free of pollution, so visibility is really clear,” he said. “Mountains 6,500-ft. high rise out of the sea. We came so close that we felt like we could touch them, despite being miles away.”

Tough on the outside, luxurious on the inside. Yersin ‘s interior goes mano a mano with any expedition superyacht.  Courtesy Fraser Yachts

That same sense of awe came with the glaciers. “It is exceptional to be able to sail for days in that kind of landscape,” he says.

Yersin was designed for that kind of off-grid travel. The boat is ice-classed and capable of withstanding temperatures of -50 degrees. On top of that it has a 12,000-nautical range and can be autonomous for 50 days. Its tenders can carry ATVs for shoreside exploration.

Which brings us back to Cousteau and Yersin. “Piriou understood what I wanted to develop; an open-sea explorer capable of discovering the world without leaving any environmental trace of its passage,” the owner says. “Many places around the world only tolerate yachts with zero ecological impact. This means that Yersin explored places where no other boat has yet ventured.”

Who needs a movie screen when you have a window beneath the ocean’s surface?  Courtesy Fraser Yachts

That science included studying whales in Iceland, the formation of ice and glaciers in the fjords of Greenland, and sea scallop colonies in Novia Scotia. “In Labrador, we were in an unknown and uncharted area. There are no boats there, so there are no set sailing routes,” says the owner. “Ships going there make their own route, so our journey is now on charts.”

Water depths are unknown in many places around the polar regions, so the crew used sonar to check for icebergs and rocks—a real necessity when cruising near Greenland’s Ilulissa region. It’s home to the 40-foot-long Jakobshavn Glacier, famed for producing the iceberg that sunk the Titanic .

After that very literal shakedown cruise, Yersin has traveled the globe for scientific research, from exploring the 607 islands of Micronesia to crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

The conference room is designed for researchers.  Courtesy Fraser Yachts

During that time, Yersin ’s owner has shared his passion with the scientific community, welcoming researchers on board. Where possible, the yacht partakes in the production of natural history documentaries.

But after six years, the owner has put his beloved explorer up for sale. Even Tintin had to go home.

“I hope the next owner will share the same passion as me for the environment,” says the owner. “I hope Yersin ’s legend will continue.”

The pilothouse has one of the owner’s favorite explorers, Tintin, looking down from his boat.  Courtesy Fraser Yachts

Yersin is now listed for sale for €59 million, or about $69.2 million, with Fraser yachts.

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