The fact that the five-year project to build a new yacht for Andrey Melnichenko today resulted in the transfer of the ship to the customer, was announced by the German broadcasting company NDR 1 Welle Nord. According to it, the billionaire came to Kiel to inspect the sailboat in August 2016, and in October it passed the first test at sea.

The ship's length is 142.8 meters, the width is 25 meters, the tonnage is 12,700 tons, and the presumed price is 400 million euros. According to the founder of a specialized website Yacht Harbour, Dmitry Semenikhin, the new Melnichenko's yacht today is the largest sailing ship in the world, before the most spacious one was Project Solar with the length of 106 m, a width of 15 m and a total displacement of 2700 tons.

Originally, the yacht was to be called White Pearl, but then the customer changed its mind in favor of the laconic 'A': his first megayacht, which was also designed by Philippe Starck, had that name. The Dutch shipbuilding company of Dykstra Naval Architects was responsible for the rigging and keel, the British firm Magma Structures built 90-meter masts (higher than Big Ben) and the sails were made by the American firm Doyle Sails. The yacht has eight decks, and the body includes one of the largest curved glass in the world with the leaf area of 58.8 sq / m and weight of about 2 tons. It is expected that it will take a crew of 54 people to service the vessel.

His first big yacht, the 119-meter 'A', also built in Kiel, Melnichenko put up for sale last year, when it was announced about the completion of the new 'A'. The first vessel had a famous original design, resembling the shape of a submarine. It was built by Blohm + Voss and launched in 2008. Melnichenko costs on the previous project were estimated at $300 million. Whether Melnichenko sold his first yacht, is still unknown.

According to NDR, in the coming days 'A' will leave Kiel and go to Spain. At the moment of the megayacht's exit from the Baltic Sea to the North for safety reasons the runway in the Danish international airport Kastrup will be closed: this rule is valid for transit ships with masts higher than 35 meters.