After nearly 5 years, the megayacht DREAM was again at Grand Harbour, Malta of which she entered on Sunday 18th June,2023.
She was built in 1997 by Halic Shipyard at Istanbul, Turkey for the Turkish Maritime Lines with yard number 303 trading as TDI KARADENIZ until May 2005 of which we use to see her at Malta too.
In 2008 a major conversion started at the Greek yard Chalkis Shipyards S.A. started and involved the complete redesign and rebuild of her hull and superstructure, fulfilling today’s impeccable superyacht standards.
DREAM’s stern was also re-shaped. The original was cut off and a new, longer section was added to incorporate a large beach club, which is revealed by the opening of a new transom door. In total, these changes have added an extra 13 metres onto her length as before the refit she was 93 metres.
But then this boat has been a very long time in the making. “In 1953, at the age of seven, while dinghy sailing in the Glyfada gulf, outside my house, I came across the Onassis-owned CHRISTINA O, the first real superyacht,” recalls DREAM’s owner, George J Prokopiou. “I remember approaching the yacht’s stern on which Winston Churchill was smoking his cigar. This image has stuck with me ever since and generated the dream of a large yacht as a world cruising platform.”
Today, like Onassis, Prokopiou can properly be called a Greek shipping tycoon, having founded Dynacom Tankers, the shipping group Sea Traders and LNG transport company Dynagas. He has an engineering mind, extensive shipbuilding experience and his sea legs also extend to his leisure time, with a collection of four large motor and sailing boats.
She was last here 0n 23rd July, 2018 before going to Gozo.
More unusually, Prokopiou requested opening windows throughout, so that a natural breeze rather than air con could ventilate the boat in warm weather. In response, there are 66 opening portholes, 20 manually opening windows and 112 electrically opening windows, 500 kilograms each, 60 millimeters thick, custom made in Germany.
She has various toys like other yachts including 2 helipads.
During her stay she was berthed starboard side alongside Gun Wharf overhanging to Wine Wharf, part of Valletta Cruise Port – www.vallettacruiseport.com which they are our SPONSORS too for a lifetime.
