Azzam is 180.61m LOA, built Lürssen 2013, the largest private yacht in the world by some margin. Reported reported owner is the Abu Dhabi royal estate following the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in May 2022. She has never been on the commercial charter market. There is no central agent. There is no published rate. She is unlikely to ever be available for charter, and we say so up front rather than ranking her among bookable yachts.
This is the status piece. What Azzam is, why a 180m yacht built for a head of state was never going to charter, what charter clients searching her name actually want, and the largest yachts that are realistically bookable in 2026.
Specs that matter
180.61m LOA, 20.8m beam, 4.3m draft, 13,136 GT. Built by Lürssen at the Bremen yard, delivered April 2013. Naval architecture by Mubarak Saad Al Ahbabi at Nauta Yacht Design, with. Exterior styling by Nauta Design. Interior by Christophe Leoni.
The most unusual specifications are the propulsion package and the draft. Azzam reaches a reported top speed of from a hybrid combined diesel and gas turbine arrangement of two MTU 20V 8000 M71 diesels and two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines driving four water jets. That is the propulsion of a frigate, not a yacht. The 4.3m draft on a 180m yacht is the consequence of the design brief to operate in the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf, where the seabed at the most-used anchorages and ports is in the 5 to 8m range. The draft constraint dictated the gas-turbine plus water-jet arrangement, because conventional propellers at 180m LOA would not fit under the design draft.
The interior is reported at. The yacht is rated for private use. There is no commercial coding and no realistic prospect of one.
Why Azzam is not on charter
Three reasons, stacked.
First, the original ownership context. Azzam was commissioned for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, then President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi. A yacht commissioned by a head of state for the use of a head of state and the state's hosting needs is structurally not a charter yacht. The construction was reported to take roughly three years from contract to delivery, and the interior brief was reported in the range. None of this maps to charter economics.
Second, the post-2022 succession. Sheikh Khalifa died in May 2022. The yacht has reportedly transferred to the Abu Dhabi state's holdings or remained in family use under his successor's purview. The closer the ownership sits to a state asset, the less likely commercial charter becomes. State-owned super-yachts are operated, not chartered.
Third, the operational profile. Azzam's hybrid diesel-and-gas-turbine plant, water-jet propulsion, and 31-knot top speed are expensive to run. Reported operating cost is in the reported annual operating cost band for Azzam, often cited $40M to $60M band per year. The yacht is also reported to have a crew complement that is closer to a naval auxiliary than a charter yacht. Pricing her for commercial charter at a number that recovers a meaningful share of operating cost would produce a weekly rate above $5M, which is materially outside the charter market's clearing range even at the top tier.
What "largest yacht in the world" means in practice
As of May 2026, Azzam at 180.61m holds the largest-private-yacht title against:
Fulk Al Salamah, 164m. Government of Oman, built Mariotti / Drive Marine 2016. Not on charter, operated by the Oman Royal Yacht Squadron for state hosting.
Dilbar, 156m. Built Lürssen 2016 for Alisher Usmanov. Currently subject to EU and UK sanctions and frozen in Hamburg. Not on charter and not bookable in any normal sense. We cover the status in Dilbar yacht status.
Eclipse, 162.5m. Built Blohm+Voss 2010. Reported sanctions context for the registered owner. Status varies. We cover it in Eclipse yacht charter status.
Al Said, 155m. Government of Oman, the predecessor to Fulk Al Salamah. Not on charter.
The pattern is consistent. The 150m-plus tier is almost entirely state, sanctioned, or private. Of the seven yachts above 150m delivered to date, have ever appeared on the commercial charter market, and none in 2026.
What readers want when they search "Azzam yacht charter"
In our reading of intent, the query is mostly press-driven curiosity rather than a credible charter inquiry. A charter client serious about size books at 130m or 110m, where the inventory exists. The Azzam search is informational, with a small share looking for "the largest yacht I can actually charter," and that is the question worth answering.
The largest yacht on commercial charter in 2026 is Flying Fox at 136m, asking per week. She is the answer and we cover her at length in Flying Fox yacht charter. The next-largest available is Octopus at 126m, asking, full notes in Octopus charter record. Then Anna at 110m. Then Lana at 107m. Below 100m the inventory broadens significantly.
Anchorage and operational notes
Even hypothetically, Azzam is operationally a difficult yacht for the charter market. Her draft is shallow, which is a feature for the Arabian Gulf and a non-issue for the Mediterranean. Her LOA is not. Few Mediterranean anchorages can accommodate a 180m yacht comfortably, and dockage at the few ports that can take her (Port Hercule in Monaco at peak, the dedicated 180m-plus berths in) is at rates that are operationally meaningful even for an owner of her tier. The yacht is most often reported in Abu Dhabi waters during her in-service periods.
What we would change
This is academic because the yacht is not on the market and will not be. If a yacht of Azzam's size were to enter commercial charter, the obvious operational ask is the propulsion package. The gas-turbine plus water-jet setup is the wrong choice for charter use, because turbine fuel burn at cruise is unforgiving and water-jet maintenance at this scale is expensive. A conventional propeller-driven 180m yacht at a 5.5 to 6m draft would be a more credible charter platform, and any future build at this LOA targeted for charter would not look like Azzam.
The other operational ask is the certification. Commercial coding under the MCA Large Yacht Code at this scale is not impossible but adds in retrofit cost. A yacht built for private use does not become a charter yacht overnight.
What we have passed on
We have passed on the Abu Dhabi succession politics, the Sheikh Khalifa biography, and the reported build cost speculation. The first two are extensively covered elsewhere and neither has any bearing on whether the yacht can be chartered. The third is unverifiable in any meaningful sense.
Verdict
Azzam is a reference yacht, not a charter option. The largest yacht you can actually charter in 2026 is Flying Fox at 136m, and that is where the inquiry should go. If you are reading this because the yacht has been in the press following, the spec sheet above is the part that is on the record. The rest is press speculation.
If your trip plan includes time ashore in St Barths between charter weeks, the page next door at HotelsForKings has the St Barths list.
Last updated
May 2026. We update this page when the Azzam ownership, certification, or operational status materially changes in the public record.
FAQ
Has Azzam ever been on charter? No. There is no record of Azzam ever being listed on the commercial charter market, no central agent, no published rate, and no public booking history since her 2013 delivery.
Who built Azzam and how long did the build take? Lürssen at the Bremen yard. The build took roughly three years from contract to delivery in April 2013. The naval architecture and design team is.
What does Azzam's 31-knot top speed mean in practice? The top speed is a function of the gas-turbine plus water-jet propulsion package and is rarely used in normal operation. Cruise speed is materially lower, in the range, and fuel burn at top speed is reported in the range per hour.
Why is Azzam's draft so shallow for her size? The brief required operation in shallow Arabian Gulf waters. The design draft of 4.3m at 180m LOA is unusually shallow for the size class and dictated the use of water-jet propulsion rather than conventional propellers.
Where is Azzam in May 2026?. She has historically been reported in Abu Dhabi waters and the Arabian Gulf during her in-service periods.