$500m research yacht faces years of delays
Røkke-backed Rev Ocean won’t be delivered until the middle of the decade.
By Marc Allen
The launch of the Kjell Inge Røkke-backed research yacht, Rev Ocean, has been hit by severe delays, say its backers.
Rev Ocean, the eponymous foundation behind the giant yacht, has confirmed the vessel will not be ready for delivery in 2021. Project manager Nina Jensen told Dagens Næringsliv (DN) that delivery is more likely between 2024 and 2026.
Rev Ocean is the largest yacht under construction anywhere in the world and will be the flagship of the Rev Ocean Foundation. Its primary purpose will be to support ocean science related to plastic pollution, climate change, ocean acidification, and overfishing.
The vessel’s hull was floated out at Vard’s yard in Romania and then towed to a shipyard in Norway, where it hit technical challenges.
“I think without a doubt that both he [Kjell Inge Røkke] , I and the rest of the team are extremely frustrated, annoyed, depressed – actually the whole emotional register – because we are impatient to get out to sea,” Jensen told DN.
