“Of course,” one from Bilbao would say, “if you want the most beautiful and elegant ship in the world, you have to come to the world capital to get it.” But, leaving to one side the issue of what city is the world capital depending on who you ask, it’s still interesting that US President-Elect Trump, when he wanted the largest, most beautiful yacht in the world, turned to a Bilbao shipbuilder to design it. Well, one in Getxo, close enough.
The story begins when the American magnate and the Basque ship designers happened in 1992, as told to us by Argentine website Santa Fe Digital.
Oliver Design was the company charged with designing this ship, with its full 420ft / 128m length and enough capacity for 400 passengers, at the cost of over ₧16M, or about €180,000 in today’s money, just for the design!
Order letter to Jaime Oliver (source: Oliver Design)
The story the Argentine paper brings us is truly fascinating, including the role for which the “Los Encajeros” has become one of the shops where the Trumps visit. But we can’t forget to mention the article penned by Raúl Villa Caro on the website for the Exponav Foundation in El Ferrol, which tells us, in full detail, this story and the amazing work done by the ship designers. There, we can also find drawings for the yacht and an image of the letter Trump sent making the order, where he states he’s looking for the “largest and most beautiful yacht in the world”.
If anyone who, like us, doesn’t know anything about this world, and is wondering a Basque designer could have been selected for this project, we recommend they take a “stroll” through these designers’ website. Then they’ll understand why Donald Trump, and many others, have chosen them.
Santa Fe Digital – 17/1/2017 – Argentina
Trump encargó a una familia de Bilbao “el yate más grande del mundo”: “Llamaba a cualquier hora para discutir de minucias”
El presidente electo de EEUU encargó a unos ingenieros navales de Bilbao “un yate de 420 pies, que no sólo sea el más grande del mundo” también “el más hermoso”. Trump les invitó a su mansión de Florida en varias ocasiones y uno de ellos recuerda que “llamaba por teléfono cuando le venía bien, no distinguía el desfase de horas”.
“OLIVER DESIGN”: The superyacht that “DONALD TRUMP” never had, to the “ECO-SHIP”
‘Trump Princess’ drawings (source: Oliver Design)
Parece que si Donald Trump tenía que construirse el mejor yate del mundo, este se tenía que fabricar en Bilbao (o cerca, por Algorta). El representante principal de la empresa Oliver Design recibió el 9 March 1993 una carta de Trump en la que Donald le indicaba que estaba interesado en que le construyeran el yate más grande, bonito y exclusivo del mundo.
