A post-war German ocean yacht, rebuilt for the Mediterranean.

Gaia was launched in 1956 as Kormoran by Gebrüder Schürenstedt of Bardenfleth, a Weser shipyard known for coastal freighters, tugs and naval craft rather than pleasure boats. She was commissioned by a German industrialist who wanted a long-range displacement vessel built to merchant standards — heavy plate steel below, a light alloy superstructure above, and the tankage to stay at sea.

Sold to an Italian owner in 1961, she has cruised the Mediterranean ever since. Between 2008 and 2010 she was stripped and completely rebuilt, with a new interior by the Roman naval architect Alessio Liuni and joinery executed in Germany. She has been under the same ownership since.

Rare provenance

Schürenstedt built only a handful of private yachts over 24 metres. Gaia is one of them, and her hull, frames and plating are original 1956 German steel.

5,000 nm at 9 knots

24,000 litres of fuel and mechanically injected Cummins diesels. At displacement speed the range is measured in weeks, not days.

Rebuilt 2008–2010

Complete refit in Italy. Sea trials and RINA certification, Genoa, 2010.

Full-beam owner’s & VIP suites

Two separate spiral staircases isolate the private accommodation from the guest and entertaining areas.

Austrian flag

Registered in Vienna. An EU sovereign register rather than an offshore jurisdiction.

P R O V E N A N C E

1956 – today

1956

B A R D E N F L E T H , W E S E R

Launched as Kormoran

Built by Gebrüder Schürenstedt for a German industrialist at the height of the post-war Wirtschaftswunder. Specified as an ocean-going displacement yacht for open-water passages, not coastal work: heavy plate steel hull, seawater-resistant light alloy superstructure to keep weight out of the topsides.

1961

M E D I T E R R A N E A N

Sold to an Italian owner

Transferred south after her first period in northern European waters. She has cruised the Mediterranean continuously since.

1988

R O D R I Q U E Z , M E S S I N A

Flybridge extended

Under a Italian owner the yacht underwent a structural conversion at Rodriquez, the yard that pioneered fast commercial hulls in Italy. The flybridge was lengthened, producing the profile she carries today.

2000s

G E N O V A V O L T R I

An unfinished refit

A subsequent owner began a major rebuild and did not complete it. By 2008 the vessel stood under cover at Voltri, stripped to bare frames — but with brand-new zero-hour Cummins 6CTA

8.3 main engines and Onan generators already installed in the hull, never connected or run.

2008

– 2 0 1 0

Complete rebuild

Bought by the present owner and rebuilt in Italy. Interior architecture by; cabinetry manufactured and installed by a German joinery. Sea trials and certification by RINA at Genoa in 2010, followed by registration in Vienna under the Austrian flag.

Today

C U R R E N T

Same ownership, Mediterranean cruising