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Netflix’s The Crown recreates iconic image of Diana aboard superyacht TITANIA

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By Nina Done   18 October 2022

The latest images from the popular Netflix drama have emerged, recreating the famous shot of Diana alone with her thoughts at the end of the diving board taken in Portofino , Italy just 6 days before her untimely death on 31 August 1997.

Filming has been taking place on the beautiful Balearic island of Mallorca around the port town of Andratx, where the show has been wrapping up final scenes over the weekend recreating Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed’s vacation from the French Riviera to Italy , which were shot on board the 71m (233ft) Lurssen yacht TITANIA .

The yacht is a replica of the elegant Codecasa yacht JONIKAL (renamed BASH) which once belonged to Egyptian businessman and former Harrods owner, Mohamed Al-Fayed. The yacht provides the backdrop for a number of pivotal scenes of the pair, mere days before their tragic car accident in Paris.

Superyacht TITANIA

Delivered in 2006 and refitted in 2020, she was designed by world-renowned naval architect Espen Oeino and offers a timeless and sophisticated appeal, perfect for recreating the iconic scenes in The Crown .

The lines have been penned to gently emphasise the yacht’s ample outdoor deck spaces, which play host to a swim-up bar and multiple alfresco dining spots.

Those lucky enough to step on board will have the chance to see all of these features, in addition to being instantly wowed by her sauve interiors. Her open-plan layout lends her perfectly to entertaining, and her Venetian-style opulence adds a level of grandeur to her social areas. Her guest cabins are equally luxe, while the owner’s suite boasts plush ivory carpets contrasted by glossy cherry wood and golden accents.

Netflix has also just released its official posters for the up-coming fifth season of The Crown , which – following a U-turn by the show's producers over the summer – will now be the penultimate series of the hit show, with the sixth and final series in the pipeline.

A stellar lineup for a new season. Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana. pic.twitter.com/6Dw7AS6vBU — The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) October 17, 2022

Australian actress Elizabth Debicki has taken over from Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, with the British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdulla playing the role of Dodi Al-Fayed. 

The Crown season 5 is set to air on 9 November 2022 on Netflix.

If you’d like to learn more about chartering motor yacht TITANIA, please contact a recommended yacht charter broker .

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Boat of the Week: This Historic 325-Foot Superyacht Hosted JFK, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth Taylor

Christina o , owned by aristotle onassis, has a rich past that includes visits by prime ministers and presidents, love affairs with famous opera singers, and 42 phone lines. it is now available for charter., julia zaltzman, julia zaltzman's most recent stories.

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It wasn’t always a glamorous superyacht . The vessel started out as Canadian Navy Frigate,  HMCS Stormont , built in 1943 by Vickers of Montreal. It played an active role in World War II. In 1952, Onassis acquired it for $34,000 as part of a block purchase of ten ships that he intended to convert into a fleet of whaling vessels. When plans fell through, he kept Stormont for himself, spending $4 million (or about $46 million in today’s dollars) to convert it into a luxury superyacht—the first true gigayacht. He lengthened the hull by 29 feet and named it Christina after his daughter.

No expense was spared for its rebirth. Powered by steam engines that delivered a top speed of 21 knots, the yacht was equipped with five fast launches, a glass-bottomed boat for underwater observation, a small dinghy, two kayaks, a Fiat 500, and a five-seater Piaggio P.136L-2. (This was the same seaplane that crashed in 1973, killing Onassis’s 24-year-old son Alexander.)

Christina was one of the few yachts of its time to have an elevator, not to mention a surgical operating theater with radiography equipment. The mosaiced swimming pool also broke molds, with a minotaur-themed lifting floor that converted into a dance floor.

A close-knit group of Onassis’s friends and family partied alongside powerful figures and stars of the silver screen, including Marilyn Monroe, Margot Fonteyn, Frank Sinatra, the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds and Paul Getty. Ex-King Farouk of Egypt referred to the yacht as “the height of opulence.” The guests were entertained in reception lounges that are now famous with whispered stories.

The wood-paneled Jackie O Lapis Lounge on the main deck—named after a lapis-lazuli fireplace rumored to have cost a princely sum of one dollar per square centimeter—is stocked with rare books and a self-playing electric piano. The fake El Grecos that Onassis hung during his ownership—“If people want to believe they are authentic, why spoil their pleasure,” he once quipped—have been switched for real masterpieces by Renoir, Le Corbusier and Chirico.

Adjacent is Ari’s Bar where orca teeth serve as armrests for stools and are engraved with scenes from Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey . Wood from a sunken Spanish galleon was used for the bar. On the walls hang portraits of John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, all guests aboard the boat.

Christina was also a place where Onassis conducted business, thanks to the network of 42 telephone lines across the boat. John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill had their first encounter on the yacht. Britain’s wartime Prime Minister enjoyed eight voyages between 1958 and 1965 and was the only guest for whom Onassis gave up his own suite. The Library is named in his honor.

The 16 additional guest cabins are named after and inspired by Greek islands. The Ithaca suite was Christina’s cabin, which she surrendered to Greta Garbo, Maria Callas and Jackie Kennedy (prior to her marriage to Onassis in 1975) whenever they visited. They each feature wood, marble and gold bathroom fittings. The pastel color schemes were selected by Jackie O, who was renowned for her restoration of the White House.

Maria Callas embarked on a nine-year-long love affair with Onassis in 1959. The Maria Callas Lounge contains her original grand Steinway piano. Her wedding rings from her first marriage and a solid silver Tiffany dish presented to her by JFK are displayed by the entrance, and the entire collection of her operatic recordings are available to play. For film nights, there is a remote-controlled projector.

After Onassis’ death in 1975, his daughter gifted the boat to the Greek government and a slow deterioration ensued. In 1999, a new owner, Onassis family friend John Paul Papanicolaou, undertook a sizable refit estimated at $50 million that replaced 65 percent of the steel hull. He also renamed the vessel Christina O .

Subsequent refit work from 2016 to 2018 added an aft deck bimini system and a boarding platform for easier guest transfers. Two sets of Vosper stabilizer fins were installed, along with cold rooms, an incineration chamber and garbage compactor for the lower deck galley. A split-level Jacuzzi deck now overlooks a bar and large dining table with intricate marquetry inlays depicting the tales of Ulysses.

A pair of restored mahogany HackerCraft tenders sit alongside original features, such as the circular staircase with its onyx and silver handrail, vintage wall lights and leather settees.

The vessel has recently been a case of life imitating art. Christina O played a starring role in the Netflix series  The Crown and 2022 comedy  Triangle of Sadness . The 1956 wedding reception held on board for Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly was echoed in 2019 when supermodel Heidi Klum was married on board. Most recently, Rupert Murdoch chartered the yacht in July for a family reunion in Positano, Italy.

Other amenities include a spa with two full-time therapists forming part of the 38 crew and a chest of water toys, including an inflatable slide and Flyboard. Those weren’t toys that were available when Onassis acquired the vessel and turned it into a superyacht, but one imagines he would’ve approved.

Christina O can be chartered around $768,500 per week with Morley Yachts.

Click here to see more images of Christina O.

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This is the Christina O, Onassis’ Legendary Yacht Starring in The Crown

From d-day to the first lady's wedding to netflix; the famous yacht once belonging to aristotle onassis returns to the limelight once more..

Greece Is | October 14th, 2021

The lounges and cabins of the rechristened Christina O, the yacht that once belonged to Aristotle Onassis , have seen a parade of celebrities from the worlds of global politics, the arts and entertainment. Over the years, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Prince Rainier of Monaco, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Greta Garbo, Lisa Minelli, Eva Perόn, John Wayne, Rudolf Nureyev and many members of the Rothschild and Rockefeller dynasties all descended the majestic central staircase, swam in the pool with the famous Minoan Bull mosaic (a pool that turned into a dance floor at the touch of a button) and drank at “Ari’s Bar,” perched on stools covered with whale skin. Today, the fabled boat is garnering yet more attention, as it plays host to Princess Diana and friends.

It has been more than half a century since this legendary boat starred in news broadcasts seen around the world as the reception venue following the wedding that shocked America , that of their former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy , to the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Today, the yacht Christina O is set to play a leading role on the television screen again, this time serving as the backdrop to Princess Diana’s love affair with Egyptian billionaire Dodi Al Fayed, for the needs of the fifth season of “The Crown.”

When Onassis owned it, the yacht Christina hosted the cream of the political and artistic scenes, but today, anyone with €700,000 to spend for a week’s cruise can enjoy its luxurious appointments. Interestingly enough, nothing in the early years of this ship’s existence foretold the glory that lay ahead. This ship, which hosted Heidi Klum’s 2019 wedding and is often found off Mykonos and other cosmopolitan Mediterranean islands, made her maiden voyage in 1943 under the name “Stormont.” A frigate in the Canadian Navy, it took part in the Battle of the Atlantic and in the D-Day landings .

Onassis bought the ship at the scrap price of $34,000 in 1954 and spent $4 million renovating it, before naming it after his daughter. When one considers that amount is equivalent to approximately $45 million in today’s money, it’s easy to understand the levels of luxury involved in the restoration. The Christina was undoubtedly the most luxurious craft in the world at the time . It was, after all, the crown jewel in Onassis’ naval empire, and the magnate used it both as the headquarters of his business and as a floating mansion. In the yacht’s reception rooms hung a Renoir, a de Chirico and two fake Goyas which Onassis enjoyed fooling his esteemed guests into believing were authentic.

With the Christina, Onassis created a trend that survives to this day: every self-respecting billionaire should really have a mega-yacht that turns heads wherever it docks. After Onassis’s death in 1975, the Christina went his daughter, Christina, who, in turn, donated it to the Greek state for use as the presidential yacht. It functioned in this capacity under the name “Argo”, but gradually fell into disuse and when, in the early 1990s, it went under the hammer at a reserve price of $16 million, not a single buyer appeared.

Eventually, in poor condition, it was discovered by the shipbuilder Costas Karabelas and bought by the ship owner and friend of the Onassis family, John-Paul Papanikolaou. Its renovation took 16 months of intensive work, 1.2 million man-hours and $50 million before the boat, now renamed the Christina O, was returned to its former glory. Today, the yacht features a master suite, 17 passenger cabins, a gym, a spa, a cinema and many indoor and outdoor lounges. All its interior spaces remain connected by the ship’s impressive staircase.

The Minoan Bull mosaic at the bottom of the pool was rebuilt, piece by piece, and Aristotle’s bar, where Churchill once drank vintage brandy, was restored to its original form as well; the counter still boasts wood from a sunken Spanish galley, the bar stools are still covered in whale skin, and the hand supports are still shaped from the teeth of killer whales.

Today, another episode is unfolding in the glamorous life of this boat. On the fifth season of “The Crown” , to be released next fall, the Christina O is standing in for the Cujo , the Al Fayed family boat on which Diana was photographed by paparazzi in the summer of 1997 in Saint Tropez. It was a year after her divorce from Prince Charles, and the last summer of her life.

This article was previously published in Greek at moneyreview.gr .

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• About Christina O

“The 99.15m iconic superyacht  Christina O  is set to appear in the fifth series of Netflix drama The Crown. BOAT steps on board. 

Spending $4 million on a yacht in the years of austerity after the Second World War seemed an act of utter frivolity, yet shrewd philosophy underpinned what appeared to be wasteful extravagance by the aptly named Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Socrates Onassis.  The Canadian war surplus anti-submarine frigate HMCS Stormont, which he bought for its scrap value, $34,000, in 1954, was transformed into Christina O: a pleasure palace that vastly enhanced his status – and wealth – as film stars, politicians, bankers and businessmen answered his invitation to ‘come aboard’. They included Winston Churchill, JF Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Rudolf Nureyev, and no doubt a few of the shadier figures who greased the financial wheels in those days.

What sets Onassis apart from the more patrician yacht owners of the day, who valued their privacy above all else, is that he virtually wrote the manual for today’s superyacht lifestyle. Espadrilled, tanned and always with an eye open beneath his sunglasses to the possibilities of a little publicity, he epitomised the roguish glamour of the mega-rich. Who didn’t aspire to a lifestyle that revolved around beautiful women, yachts and film stars? Yet, as a shrewd businessman, he was among the first to realise the potential of a yacht as a business tool. Who knows how many lucrative doors a few days’ hospitality aboard  Christina O  opened up for the man who began his career as a refugee from Turkish Anatolia with $250 in his pocket and a ticket to Argentina, where he made his first fortune.

The 99.13 metre Christina was named after his first-born child, who inherited her father’s yacht at his death in 1975. However, with the memories of those carefree days perhaps too poignant, Christina donated her namesake to the Greek government in 1978, and a period of slow deterioration followed. The yacht was rescued in 1999 by an Onassis family friend, John Paul Papanicolaou, who set about restoring her….and now with her 17 staterooms putting her into the exclusive mini-cruise liner market, a role that suits her perfectly. A new ‘Callas stage’ was also constructed and installed around the base of the funnel. All  Christina O ’s original features still exist. The most preserved areas are the Onassis Suite, the famous Ari’s Bar and the concert room.

To use a Greek word,  Christina O  was an icon of her time, while the treatment lavished upon her and her guests, past, present and future, should surely guarantee that she remain so.”

From BOAT INTERNATIONAL , October 2021

Contact  [email protected]  to arrange a charter

The superyacht once owned by Aristotle Onassis is now available to charter

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Superyacht used as setting for Prince Charles & Diana’s turbulent hols in The Crown up for sale at a staggering price

• Georgie English , Foreign News Reporter
• Published : 7:56 ET, Jul 5 2024
• Updated : 8:43 ET, Jul 5 2024
• Published : Invalid Date,

THE regal superyacht seen in the hit TV show The Crown is up for sale at a staggering price.

Known as Christina O, the 325ft mega boat hosted the turbulent holiday for a young Prince Charles and Princess Diana in season five of the Netflix smash hit.

After a successful TV career the classic superyacht is now looking for a new home and has now gone on the market for a whopping £76million.

The hefty price tag comes from it being the 45th largest yacht in the world as of 2018 - plus a long, historic past.

Another key factor in the mammoth cost is the elegance of the yacht both inside and out.

The boat quickly became known as a one-of-a-kind luxury yacht after a number of refurbishments were completed after it had helped in World War Two.

One of the most remarkable highlights saw its Greek designer create a mosaic swimming pool in the lower deck that could be drained and raised up to become a dance floor.

Specialist designers and art icons were even drafted in to help with the superyacht such as architect Cäsar Pinnau and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans.

It can hold countless guests in its 18 rooms and one master suite as well as a stacked crew of 38.

As well as being able to boast a whole range of spa amenities and wellness opportunities.

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Inside, the rooms are as extravagant as expected with a grand piano and a lengthy main dinner table as well as a gilded spiral stair case and an elegant bar.

Despite Prince Charles and Princess Diana never officially using the Christina O, their characters in The Crown did.

Retelling the turbulent tale of a joint trip away to Italy for their 10th wedding anniversary in 1991, the show used the superyacht in place of the actual Alexander yacht the royal couple used.

The superyacht was used in filming for season five, episode one off the coast of Mallorca.

In the episode, the story goes through the holiday onboard the ship which turned out to be one of the families final outings before their seismic divorce.

Both vessels have a striking resemblance and are equally as luxurious with pictures of actors Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West expertly playing the roles.

The yacht's gross tonnage is a huge 1,848GT with it also boasting an impreeive max speed of 19 knots.

The luxury features of the Alexander

THE real superyacht used by Prince Charles, Diana, William and Harry in 1991 was the famed Alexander.

It was a massive 397ft in length and boasted room for up to 54 guests and 60 crew members.

Alexander is believed to be the third largest classic yacht in the world with an interior volume of up to 5,933 gross tonnage.

It was said to have been made in 1965 by German shipyard Lubecker Flender Werke.

The vessel has a private cinema, a number of al fresco lounges and dining areas plus a heli-pad on the top deck.

Other features include a dual swimming pool and a huge jacuzzi with panoramic views out to sea.

She is also powered by twin MAN diesel engines that can produce 16,100 horsepower and comes in with a top speed of 18.5 knots. 

It is typically seen cruising around Greece and the Red Sea.

History of Christina O

Huge yachts were seen as a vital component during the years of World War Two with Christina O originally serving as a Canadian anti-submarine River-class frigate called HMCS Stormont.

It launched in 1943 and was used as a crucial convoy escort during the Battle of the Atlantic and was said to have been at the Normandy landings. 

Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis took over the helm after the war as he paid just under £40,000 for it.

Onassis gave it the name of Christina after his daughter as he pumped almost £4million into the boat to transform it into a superyacht.

Over the next three decades the superyacht played host to the stars of the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Famous faces such as Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton , Winston Churchill , John F. Kennedy and even global royalty all set sail on the glamorous vessel.

It became part of celebrity heritage when Prince of Monaco Rainier III and Grace Kelly held their wedding reception onboard in 1956.

The yacht then fell into the hands of the Greek government after Onassis died in 1975.

They left her untouched and collecting dust for years until it was sold at auction in the early 1990s for just under £14million.

A £44million refurbish plan was once again undertaken in 2001 before it was snapped up for £60million.

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It comes as a classic 90s motor that was used by Charles, Diana and Harry in The Crown is also set to go on sale for a bargain price.

The 1995 Bentley Brooklands carried the actors in the show but now has an estimated price tag of only £12,000 - £15,000.

• King Charles
• Prince Harry
• Prince William
• Princess Diana

Onassis yacht used in Mallorca filming of The Crown for sale

Christina o on the market for €90,000,000, donald trump’s old james bond superyacht in palma, bill gates’s superyacht is in mallorca and up for sale, the kardashians celebrate mallorca holiday with spanish beer.

Christina O has been a refquent visitor to Palma. | Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

This is your chance to not only buy one of the most famous and historic classic yachts afloat today but also a piece of The Crown memorabilia. The super-yacht once owned by Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis was used in the filming of the fifth series of The Crown at Palma’s Club de Mar. She was the 45th largest yacht in the world as of 2018. Now she is up for sale for a cool €90,000,000.

The boat originally served as a Canadian anti-submarine River-class frigate called HMCS Stormont, launched in 1943. HMCS Stormont served as a convoy escort during the Battle of the Atlantic and was present at the Normandy landings. Onassis purchased the Stormont after the end of World War II , as it was one of the many surplus naval vessels. Purchasing the ship at scrap value of US$34,000, Onassis then spent an additional US$4 million to convert the vessel into a luxurious superyacht, named after his daughter Christina.

The conversion made full use of the navy ship’s size and powerful naval engineering systems to create large, ornate interiors and elaborate luxuries: such as a mosaic swimming pool that once drained can be raised up to deck level to become a dance floor. Christina O set a new standard for lavish personal yachts , especially as she was rebuilt amidst the austerity of post-war Europe. The yacht was remodelled by architect Cäsar Pinnau, and the children’s dining room was designed and painted by the illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans.

After her marriage to Onassis two decades later, Jacqueline Onassis selected the pastel colour scheme and decor in all of the cabins. Apart from Onassis’s mistress Maria Callas and his wife Jackie Kennedy Onassis, he entertained celebrities such as Umberto Agnelli, Giovanni Battista Meneghini, Richard Burton, Clementine Churchill, Diana Churchill, Winston Churchill , Jacqueline de Ribes, John F. Kennedy, Greta Garbo, Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Grace Kelly, Anthony Montague Browne, Rudolf Nureyev, Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan, J. Paul Getty, Eva Perón, Françoise Sagan, Frank Sinatra , Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne.

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In 1956 the wedding of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and Grace Kelly held its reception on Christina O.Aristotle Onassis willed his yacht to his only heir, Christina Onassis. Ιf Christina did not want it, the vessel would go to his wife Jackie Kennedy Onassis. If in turn, Jackie refused to take it, the vessel would be turned over to the Greek government, on condition that maintenance work was carried out and the vessel then offered for use to each incumbent head of Greek state as presidential yacht. Upon Aristotle Onassis’s death in 1975, Christina Onassis donated the yacht to the Greek government as a presidential yacht.

The Greek government changed the name of the Christina and renamed it Argo , she was allowed to decay and was eventually put up for sale at US$16 million in the early 1990s. She went unsold. In 1996, an attempted sale to American Alexander Blastos fell through when his deposit check bounced, he was later convicted of wire fraud as a result.

The vessel was purchased in 1998 by fellow Greek ship owner magnate John Paul Papanicolaou, an Onassis family friend who secured it in a government-sponsored auction. He reverted her name back to Christina O, in tribute to the late Christina Onassis, who had died in 1988, and undertook a major refurbishment between January 1999 and April 2001 that cost over $50 million, transformed ship into a modern high-quality luxury charter yacht. Papanicolaou hired Naval architect Costas Carabelas to spearhead the vessel’s 1998 refit, who engaged interior architect Apostolos Molindris, the firm Decon to manage construction and the Croatian Viktor Lenac Shipyard to carry it out. The Christina O Limited Partnership bought the yacht for €65 million in 2000.

Christina O has a master suite, eighteen passenger stateroom s, and numerous indoor and outdoor living areas, all connected by a spiral staircase. Compared to a typical 21st-century superyacht, her staterooms are small and Christina O lacks the indoor boat storage that is now standard; however, the number of living areas is large, and the amount of outdoor deck space is very generous. The aft main deck has an outdoor pool with a minotaur-themed mosaic floor that rises at the push of a button to become a dance floor.

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Correct me if I am wrong but this is the yacht that Onassis had the bar stools upholstered with leather made from a whale's foreskin so he could tell Jackie ( then Kennedy ) she was sitting on the biggest pr**k in the world. Fascinating story. Fascinating man.

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CHRISTINA O

CHRISTINA O, a 99.14 m Motor Yacht built in Canada and delivered in 1943, is the flagship of Canadian Vickers .

Her top speed is 20.0 kn, her cruising speed is 18.0 kn, and she boasts a maximum cruising range of 12000.0 nm at 10.0 kn, with power coming from two MAN diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 36 guests in 18 staterooms, with 36 crew members. She has a gross tonnage of 1802.0 GT and a 11.13 m beam.

She was designed by Costas Carabelas .

The naval architecture was developed by Prof. Cäsar Pinnau and Howaldtswerke , and the interior of the yacht was designed by Apostolos Molindris - she is built with a Teak deck, a Steel hull, and Steel superstructure.

CHRISTINA O is in the top 5% by LOA in the world. She is one of 35 motor yachts in the 90-100m size range, and, compared to similarly sized motor yachts, her cruising speed is 2.95 kn above the average, and her top speed 1.17 kn above the average.

CHRISTINA O is currently sailing under the Malta flag, the 3rd most popular flag state for superyachts with a total of 1107 yachts registered. She is known to be an active superyacht and has most recently been spotted cruising near Greece. For more information regarding CHRISTINA O's movements, find out more about BOATPro AIS .

Specifications

• Name: CHRISTINA O
• Previous Names: STORMONT,CHRISTINA,ARGO
• Yacht Type: Motor Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Displacement , Classic Yacht
• Builder: Canadian Vickers
• Naval Architect: Howaldtswerke , Prof. Cäsar Pinnau
• Exterior Designer: Costas Carabelas
• Interior Designer: Apostolos Molindris
• Refits: 1954,2001,2023

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