Sanlorenzo 50Steel Reviewed

At rest, green methanol powers the hotel loads for the 164-foot Almax. Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts/Guillaume Plisson

Sanlorenzo Group Executive Chairman Massimo Perotti is, and always has been, an early adopter of cleaner technology.

He recently pushed Sanlorenzo’s Bluegame brand to partner with two America’s Cup syndicates to develop the BGH-HSV, the first zero-emissions chase boat. It has speeds up to 50 knots and a range of 150 nautical miles using only hydrogen fuel cells. Sanlorenzo Group also recently acquired Finnish sailing-yacht builder Nautor Swan, with luxury sailboats known for cleaner, less-impactful yachting.

Perotti personally took delivery of a Sanlorenzo motoryacht last summer, the first 164-footer, which he christened Almax. Its systems allow green methanol to generate enough electricity to power hotel loads when the 499-gross-ton trideck is at rest.

Because of the “hidden engine room” design, there’s still room for guest spaces aft on the lower deck, including a 1,600-square-foot beach club with fold-down terraces, a pool and spiral stairs to the cockpit above. Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts/Guillaume Plisson

Green methanol can be produced sustainably and without the emissions associated with regular methanol. Sanlorenzo developed the system with Siemens Energy. Essentially, a “reformer unit” turns the green methanol into hydrogen gas by catalyzing methanol and water in the form of steam. Fuel cells then use that gas to produce electricity by combining it with oxygen across battery-like electrochemical cells. The only waste product is pure water.

Read More: Sanlorenzo 57Steel Reviewed

This method of creating hydrogen on demand gets around the critical issue of storing liquid hydrogen, which requires massive high-pressure tanks, making it an impractical solution for most yachts.

Overall, the Almax installation spans about 350 cubic feet, eating a bit into the forward garage and space that could’ve been used for the owner’s bathroom. The 2,100-gallon methanol tank, along with reformers and fuel cells, are along the forward wall of Almax’s garage. RINA signed off on the installation, with lift-up doors on each side that keep the space structurally separate from guest areas and well-ventilated. And the garage still accommodates a 23-foot primary tender, a rescue boat, and one or two personal watercraft.

Milan, Italy-based designer Piero Lissoni created the superyacht’s modern interior spaces. Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts/J. Xerra

This fuel-cell installation allows Almax to be at anchor or in a marina and operate hotel loads without any combustion engines or shore power. The fuel cells alone generate up to 100 kilowatts; typically, Almax requires no more than 100 kilowatt-hours during hot days. Standard use is 45 kWh on hot nights.

Almax does have two 118 kW generators, should there be any problems using green methanol or finding a local supply—which brings us to another issue. Methanol is not readily available, especially in the marine environment. Nor are there protocols for selling it and refueling with it. Sanlorenzo’s engineers and Almax’s crew have had to take the yacht to Greece simply to fill up, and local harbor restrictions meant doing it from handheld containers late at night. Commercially available methanol refueling services simply do not yet exist.

These are expected hurdles, Perotti says: “When the world first started to transition from horsepower to combustion engines, there were no roads, no gas stations, no garages, no tire manufacturers. As with every big journey, you have to start somewhere.”

In addition to this on-deck owners’ stateroom, there are four guest staterooms belowdecks. Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts/J. Xerra

Another Almax innovation is what Sanlorenzo calls the “hidden engine room.” It’s an installation that confines technical spaces to the hull void between the lower deck and the hull plating. The engines are lower in the hull.

Almax has twin 1,430 hp MAN D2862-LE489 diesels that provide a reported top speed of 16 knots and, with the yacht’s 14,530-gallon diesel tanks, a 4,000-nautical-mile range at 11 knots. But because of the “hidden engine room” design, there’s still room for guest spaces aft on the lower deck, including a 1,600-square-foot beach club with fold-down terraces, a pool and spiral stairs to the cockpit above.

Inside, Almax’s layout is unusual too. The steel-and-aluminum motoryacht has five staggered deck levels. This approach creates more intimate and interesting spaces aboard, with main-salon ceiling heights that vary from nearly 7 feet to almost 11 feet.

The yacht’s rounded hull, with a bow bulb and chined forward section, is from Sanlorenzo’s in-house technical team. Exterior design and space planning are by Zuccon International Project in Rome. The ultra-cool contemporary interior is by Piero Lissoni’s studio in Milan, Italy. He has served as Sanlorenzo’s art director for the past seven years.

Zuccon International Project managed the exterior space planning and design for Almax. Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts/J. Xerra

For outdoor relaxation, beyond the lower-deck beach club, there’s an upper-deck aft space, a full-length, split-level sun deck, as well as a foredeck lounge.

The main deck is configured conventionally, with seating aft and amidships dining. A central staircase connects the upper and lower decks, with a pantry to port and a starboard-side lobby and day head. The full-beam owner’s suite is forward on this deck, with four en suite guest staterooms on the lower deck. Two are VIPs, and two have twin berths that convert to doubles.

Crew quarters are for a team of eight, with twin-bunk cabins in the bow, near the portside galley and starboard-side crew mess. The captain’s cabin has a double berth on the bridge deck, along with another portside pantry.

Sanlorenzo says four more 50Steels are in various stages of construction, all with conventional powertrains and generators. However, Sanlorenzo is already working on its next green-methanol project, a 50X-Space scheduled to launch in 2027. It is expected to have bi-fuel capacity for green methanol and diesel to power the twin MAN diesels and four Nanni diesel gensets, with a goal of reducing underway emissions by up to 70 percent.

For Sanlorenzo, the future of blue exploration is coming up green.  

Try Before You Buy

Almax is available for charter in the Mediterranean via Equinoxe Yachts. Weekly base rates start at just shy of $350,000 per week.

Path to Sustainability

Sanlorenzo expects to be greenhouse-gas neutral by 2040, or earlier if market demand allows. The company had an EU grant to help with 60 percent of the $2 million development cost of Almax’s fuel-cell installation and expects to get a similar dispensation for a $5 million bi-fuel project on the Sanlorenzo 50X-Space scheduled to splash in 2027. The 2,100-gallon green-methanol tank aboard Almax should last for two weeks’ worth of at-anchor hotel demands. 

Tax-Free, for Now

Because methanol is generally considered to be a chemical rather than a fuel, no countries presently tax it. Should it become a fuel in the future, taxes will likely follow.

Gray or Green?

Gray methanol is a fossil fuel, so it can’t be considered sustainable. Methanol is defined as “green” if it is manufactured sustainably and is also carbon-neutral. Green methanol is approximately 2.5 times more expensive than regular marine diesel. In southern Europe, Sanlorenzo says, a ton of methanol would cost the equivalent of $1,000.

Timing is Everything

The fuel-cell start-up routine on Almax normally takes around 90 minutes to complete, but in emergencies, shortcuts allow that process to be completed within 30 minutes.

Take the next step: sanlorenzoyacht.com

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