When the Owner of MY ENIGMA XK (ex NORNA) came to Atlantic Refit Center in June, he was looking for a robust boat at a reasonable price, capable of sailing in all weather conditions; tropical or polar climates, calm or rough seas.
He bought the Fishery Patrol Vessel NORNA build by Richards Shipbuilders in 1988, because of her strong hull lines, remarkable funnels and high quality of her equipment, which is required by the nature of a survey vessel for the northern Atlantic area. FPV NORNA was a former patrol vessel owned by the Scottish fishery department of the British navy in, to control fisheries in the North Sea and North Atlantic Sea.
More specific requirements from the Owner were to convert the working vessel into a timeless yacht without taking away the key signature of the existing vessel. The vessel required an uncluttered deck with a touchdown helideck. As the yacht would be used in a tropical environment, yard needed more open outdoor areas for dining and entertainment areas, without excessive sun exposure.
The vessel needed to harbour and handle sea bobs, sea slides, a 9m limo tender, a 7m rib as well as motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. The interior was extremely challenging as the vessel had a complex transversal, longitudinal camber and all decks have low headroom (2,50 m). A boat this size needed room for 12 passengers, a fitness room and a massage parlour. The Owner was also determined to keep the plumbing and the wiring in position, so the refit team would have to work around that.
In his research for the refit candidates, the Owner wanted to find partners who would be quick, responsive and efficient and who would take an intelligent approach in optimising the existing structure. Their challenge would be to work as a highly coordinated team within a constrained budget. This was something he wanted and was able to retain throughout the project.
The Owner chose Atlantic Refit Center because of their excellent references and their ability to tailor their design and project team to his specific refit project. They should perform very high flexibility, quick responsive approach and positive solution oriented thinking. The Atlantic Refit Center spearheaded the selection of the team and kicked off the project in the month of August in France. They chose Vitruvius Yachts and Philippe Briand for the interior and exterior designs and McFarlane Ship Design for the naval architecture.
At the end of November same year, the Owner received the finalised plans for the interior and exterior and started to remove all existing fittings to either discard or perform revisions and upgrades.
The Designer’s Challenge
FPV “NORNA” was built to operate in the roughest conditions of the North Sea of the Outer Hebrides. The original vessel has a rugged silhouette: high freeboards, strong bulwarks, a wave-breaker on the forward deck, small and few openings, a safe haven for 23 professionals. This capacity, plus a strong all-steel hull construction, very well maintained machinery and 230m3 fuel capacity, are what seduced the new owner, who wanted an Explorer Yacht capable of long range sailing in all sorts of weather conditions. The intent as designers was then to transform a North-Sea fortress into an open and comfortable yacht, without fighting her original identity. Her silhouette would be kept.
The Designer’s team needed to achieve yachting comfort standards for 12 passengers and MLC compliancy for 21 crew. All major existing systems needed to be kept and aircon ducts needed to be integrated.
The three major challenges were:
- The very low headroom and camber
- The absence of light
- The absence of social areas.
A.R.C. has chosen to redesign the boat respecting one leitmotif: the further you go up in the structure, the more light flows in. More light also means a lighter and more airy approach to furnishings and accessories. The yard could not change the headroom and camber but could open up the main deck adding the very distinct diamond on the upper deck.
The crew deck was refitted to accommodate 21 crew and a true yacht galley. The main deck was redesigned to create 5 spacious guest cabins, a wellness room, and a gymnasium. What used to be the officers’ mess has become the main saloon.
Confronted with limited headroom and little or no port lights, the yard/designers fitted a total of 27 large port lights, 1.2m-high, bringing daylight into the cabins and social areas. The main deck aft provides space for a 9m limousine tender, a 7m-RIB, both tenders custom-built in aluminum, and also 2 all-terrain vehicles and jet skis, all handled with a 9.5m –reach, 4t-capacity articulated crane.
As the yard wanted to keep the explorer look, the team have kept all “toys”’ visible. The front upper deck, which used to host the captain and the chief engineer, has become the Owner’s quarters, featuring wrap-around windows and a massive skylight; it accommodates an office, and an en-suite with bath, open shower and hammam, plus a private terrace forward, protected by the wave-breaker.
Aft of the Owner’s quarters, we enter the social area where we put a lot of emphasis on creating an open, living area. The intention was to make this area the center of the life onboard. This diamond-shape sky lounge, dubbed the “Greenhouse” features very large window panes allowing for a 360-degree view and ample natural light. On the original vessel, the prominent funnels were very much cluttering the deck space.
On the other hand they are a feature, a signature of the original vessel. By rearranging the engine room ventilation and main exhausts, and modifying the shape of the funnels, the conversion team managed to create a large open deck boasting a lounge corner, dining table and a Jacuzzi. The helicopter pad is aft of the sundeck and becomes a lounge/party zone.
The geometry of the bridge deck remains very much identical, here again there was no intention to modify a well-thought area. Only the captain’s cabin and a ship’s office were created aft of the bridge.
In the design of the interior, the yard had to address the challenge of a limited deck height (2.45m where a good 2.8m would be required on a yacht of this size) and pronounced deck camber and sheer. Pipes and ducts had to be squeezed above the overhead panels to maintain reasonable headroom throughout. And for the camber, the solution laid in the interior décor.
Conversion team opted for a marine look with a slightly modern touch. Each cabin is subtly themed for a particular continent. The main deck palette comprised wine tones, bright berries, fiery oranges and browns. Those colors change to whites and taupe at the upper deck level.
Vitruvius Yachts did a wonderful job. The end result that was beyond Owner’s expectation.
The Shipyard Challenge
The refit/rebuilt of FPV NORNA into Explorer Yacht ENIGMA XK was a great opportunity for Atlantic Refit Center and Vitruvius Yachts to show how such a complex project could be completed in a smooth and comprehensive approach.
The 3 most important challenges in this 26 months refit-rebuilt project were:
- To perform all the works required in a short time frame
- To change the vessel’s Lloyd’s Register class notation from cargo ship into Special Service Craft
- To install all the new technical systems required, as well as to refurbish the ship, and in doing so converting a military vessel into a yacht
Time frame – As soon as the vessel arrived at the shipyard, the Owner was impatient to see works on-board commencing. At that time, the project was only a white sheet and the ship a pure military vessel. The challenge was to set up a design team including Exterior and interior Designers, Naval Architect, Noise and vibration engineer, within one week in August!
Fortunately, the team had themselves, a good team of subcontractors which the yard were used to working with. After a couple of weeks with just a profile and a preliminary GA of the new vessel in hand, the decision was made to start scrapping and to remove the tons of items of no use for the future project. At that time, in-depth studies started, just a few weeks ahead of the rebuild works onboard. As opposed to the classic way of building , where design studies are definitely upstream, this parallel process required responsiveness from all parties involved as well as a very short decision-making process on the part of the Owner and his representatives.
Change of class notation: Previously LRS registered as Cargo ship *100A1, *LMC, UMS Unrestricted Navigation, the new notation is now +100 A1 SSC yacht Mono G6, +LMC. Anyone familiar with regulation knows that it has been extremely challenging to achieve this, especially on an existing military vessel.
New systems on-board: Outfitting the existing vessel with all modern systems for yachting purpose proved to be a challenge and required ingenious solutions as team was not only confronted with the headroom [distance between the steel decks of a military vessel at 2.50 m but the vessel had a very significant camber. The biggest accomplishment is that yard managed to hide all piping of the new vent & aircon system, sprinkler and fire fighting systems and through smart interior design the team managed to keep a minimum of 2.00 m headroom in every area.
Spirit of the original vessel: the Owner’s wish was to preserve the lines of the original vessel. The boat was sound and the construction by Richards is of high quality. Team of experts updated the lines of the vessel with a good new design of the superstructure and they believe that the end result, ENIGMA XK demonstrates a very good balance between the “old” and “new” vessel, from an aesthetic point of view, but also a good balance between the refit of the existing systems and the installation of brand new equipment within a reasonable budget.
Key numbers will give an idea of the works performed during this refit:
- Labour = 280.000 hours
- Weight of the steel handled [steel remove + installed] = 70 Tons
- Quantity of sand used for sandblasting the entire vessel = 99 tons
- Volume of filler on hull and superstructure = 13.000 liters
- Total length of new electrical cables installed onboard = 35 Km
- Extra electrical power installed onboard = 600 KW
- Time frame for the refit/rebuild including studies = 26 months
The end result of this project is a stunning Explorer Yacht, with beautiful exterior lines and timeless interior design.
Inside M/Y ENIGMA XK
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