Report sheds light on concerning conditions at one of the world's most prolific superyacht shipyards: 'What an atrocity'

Superyachts, defined as luxury sea vessels at least 80 feet long, aren't just unnecessarily excessive — they're also financially unsustainable.

As Luxurylaunches.com reported, multiple superyacht shipyards have filed for bankruptcy.

The Nobiskrug shipyard built the $580 million Sailing Yacht A, one of the largest superyachts in the world. This shipbuilding company and another, Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, filed for bankruptcy following internal mismanagement and financial instability.

Hundreds of shipyard employees are out of work and facing delayed salaries. Meanwhile, Germany's government has withdrawn grant money to build new ships.

The future of superyacht production is now uncertain, but that's not necessarily bad in the grand scheme of things.

Essential shipbuilding is crucial to international trade and sea transport, which is vital to the global economy. However, superyachts sold to private consumers for personal luxury use are far from essential or environmentally responsible.

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Luxury yachts significantly impact the environment, even damaging coral reefs, which are crucial for marine biodiversity and are already struggling to survive as ocean temperatures rise.

Superyachts and other large ships are also major contributors to pollution, contributing to our planet's overheating.

Fortunately, some nations like Canada are cracking down on selling and importing luxury vessels by imposing new taxes.

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Meanwhile, sustainable shipbuilders are developing technologies to reduce harmful pollution on seacrafts and keep wildlife safe. For example, Silent-Yachts is an Austrian company developing solar-powered superyachts like the Silent 120 Explorer, which uses electric and solar propulsion systems to keep their environmental footprint low.

The German shipbuilders in bankruptcy may consider shifting their corporate focus to manufacturing wind turbines to meet increasing offshore wind farm demands and commercial shipping to stay in business.

In response to a Reddit post about Nobiskrug's Sailing Yacht A, one social media user commented: "Wonder what the yearly cost to operate that thing …15 million? 25? Crew of 54? Good gawd."

"WTF?!? That's insane," a Reddit user commented on the estimated annual maintenance cost of $59 million.

Someone else wrote: "What an atrocity."