The 66-metre offshore rescue vessel Project UFO, also known as Ocean Falcon, will no longer undergo its conversion at Lürssen. The vessel arrived at the shipyard's facilities in Bremen, Germany in September 2022, where she was set to receive a four-metre extension and be converted into an explorer yacht for charter.
"The combined UFO-Lürssen teams have been diligently revising and evaluating the feasibility of the conversion of the Offshore and Rescue vessel Ocean Falcon as initially designed," read a statement from Lürssen. "After a thorough review, the Lürssen engineering team identified a number of challenges that make it difficult to fully meet the expectations of all parties involved. Therefore, the project decided to leave the Lürssen shipyard."
This is the second shipyard that has accepted but ultimately not gone through with Project UFO's conversion. The first was Icon Yachts, who announced its plans to take on the rebuild at the 2022 Monaco Yacht Show.
Original plans for the conversion project indicated a high-volume interior with room for four tenders, a submarine, a 10-metre swimming pool and two fully certified helicopter landing pads with an accompanying helicopter hanger. In addition, guests would have access to an expedition preparation room and a separate diving centre.
Alberto Perrone, director of yacht services at Lürssen had previously stated: "UFO is not a yacht in the traditional sense, but neither is it an explorer or support vessel. The best way to describe this new type of vessel is as a 'Pick-Up Truck' on the water. We are well-positioned for such a conversion – the outstanding engineering capabilities of Lürssen and our experience is of great benefit for the project."
Prior to this development, the shipyard had added: "Much of the existing structure, hull and systems are to be retained – so the vessel will stay true to her commercial look but function like a yacht."
It is unknown whether the conversion will continue at another shipyard.