The Golden Odyssey – Prince Khaled’s Fifth Golden Yacht
Constructed for Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul, the Golden Odyssey is a 125 meter long luxurious motor yacht. A love for sailing the high seas appears to run in the family as the Prince’s father, the late Prince Sultan bin Abdul Azziz was also a fan of luxury ships. Prince Sultan bin Abdul Azziz owned a superyacht named the Al Salamah, which was known as one of the largest superyachts in the world at the time, by volume. Although very impressive, this is not the first extravagant yacht owned by the younger Saudi Prince.
All that glitters is gold
Although Prince Khaled’s shiny new yacht was named Project Tatiana during construction, her name soon changed to Golden Odyssey, making her one of four seafaring vessels owned by the Saudi ruler with the word ‘Golden’ as part of the names. One of the Prince’s previous yachts was also named Golden Odyssey, and was renamed to Golden Odyssey II after he took ownership of the new Golden Odyssey. Odyssey II was listed for sale by the global industry leader in yacht sales, Burgess Yachts. The other two luxury ships owned by the Prince are named Golden Osprey and Golden Shadow.
Built with excellence in mind
Although the construction plans and design decisions have been a closely guarded mystery in the yachting world, it is no secret that the firm entrusted with building the ship is the German master ship building company Lürssen – a firm known for producing yachts of guaranteed distinction. Several media sources mentioned that the interior designer is Martin Francis, a leading marine architect and superyacht designer. Francis is known for pioneering the use of glass walls in architecture.
Prince Khaled
Prince Khalid during the Gulf War
Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul is the first-born son of the late Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Azziz al Saud. Born in 1949, Prince Khaled is a member of the House of Saud. He was the assistant minister of defence and aviation and general inspector for military affairs for ten years and then took the role of deputy minister of defence. Before his career in the military, Prince Khaled received a comprehensive education from various institutions across the world, including the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, and the Command and General Army Staff College of the US Army at Fort Leavenworth and the Air War College of the Maxwell Airbase – both in the United States. He also achieved a master’s degree in political science from the American university Auburn University at Montgomery. Prince Khaled was married twice and has seven surviving children.
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
His love for the oceans is not only shown with Prince Khaled’s yacht purchases, he is also very much involved with restoration and preservation of the oceans with his philanthropic organisation, the Living Oceans Foundation. The foundation uses marine science and education to advance ocean literacy and fulfil their mission of restoring and preserving the oceans.
