‘Man of Steel’ is an expensive ship, but fit for a billionaire

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Local steel magnate Barry Zekelman’s latest recreational takeover may have cost a lot of cash, but now he can boast much more leeway as he navigates the world’s oceans.

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Zekelman Industries has been identified as the buyer of movie mogul Steven Spielberg’s Seven Seas, a so-called ‘superyacht’ that hit the market earlier this year. Already renamed Man of Steel, the luxury cruiser built in 2010 went on sale for $ 158 million (C $ 202 million).

It is a 282-foot (86-meter) floating palace of graceful elegance. There is a helipad, pool, and hot tub on the deck; movie theater; gym and massages, sauna and steam rooms; nine cabins, including the owner’s suite with private terrace and a VIP cabin. There is room for 20 guests and crew quarters for 28 employees to serve them while afloat.

An elevator takes the occupants to the various decks, adorned with teak and other exotic materials. The yacht carries two custom-built vessels: a 30-foot open sports boat and a 34-foot “limousine” boat.

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With an estimated top speed of 20 knots (37 km / h), it has a cruising range of 5,200 nautical miles (9,630 km) at 16 knots.

He is the latest incarnation of the “Man of Steel” from the Lakeshore-based steel magnate whose father, Harry Zekelman, founded the steel tube maker Atlas Tube in Harrow in 1984.

His first superyacht to bear the Man of Steel name was a 121-foot (37-meter) Heesen 3700 purchased in 2005. This was followed three years later by another custom build from Heesen Yachts, a 160-foot (49-meter) vessel. which was the largest ship in the Dutch company at that time. They continued to grow, with the 2019 purchase of another Heesen, this 163-foot (50-meter) one.

In the world of superyachts, size seems to matter, with private boats getting bigger and more luxurious for the world’s wealthiest.

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Unfortunately, super superyachts are reserved for the really wealthy billionaires, people like Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, whose 523-foot Eclipse had a “development cost” of just over a billion dollars. And that superyacht built in 2010 is now only the third largest private yacht among the world’s elites, and most of these elite owners prefer to sail anonymously.

The same Dutch company, Oceanco, which built the latest incarnation of the Man of Steel, is currently building a 500 million dollar 127-meter superyacht for the richest man in the world, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Helpful to Oceanco-built vessel owners is the company’s “rapid response team” that will fly anywhere to assist with any sudden service needs.

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It’s a good time to be one of the world’s more than 2,700 billionaires, an exclusive club that now has a net worth of $ 13 trillion (C $ 17 trillion). Almost all experienced large increases in profits during the global pandemic; several have just started tourism ventures for wealthy space travelers; and this week one of their own, Elon Musk, was named Person of the Year by Time magazine.

Fresh from his sale to Zekelman, Spielberg, a billionaire entertainment mogul known for directing and producing a long list of Hollywood blockbusters, is also rising. Construction is underway on his next private 109-meter (358-foot) superyacht. According to Club Yacht, Spielberg would charter Seven Seas when he didn’t need it, with up to 12 guests at a time paying just over $ 1 million per week to cruise the Caribbean on a luxury cruise.

Barry Zekelman, who is frequently on the news with his wife Stephanie for their many philanthropic activities, has not been specifically identified as the new owner, but is the head of acquisitions for Zekelman Industries, and was appointed in November as the new employer by yacht publishing sites as well as Forbes and Bloomberg news services.

Zekelman, whose wealth was recently pegged by Forbes at $ 2.3 billion (C $ 3 billion), could not be reached for comment.

– With files from news sources

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