IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The Otedolas become the first African family to board Christian O, the world’s largest luxury yacht.
The family is celebrating the Nigerian energy magnate who clocks 60 on 4 November, 2022.
Christina O is the 59th largest yacht in the world as of 2022.
“Mr Femi, Femi, welcome back,” he was greeted by one of the crew members, indicating that he had been on the yacht before.
The weekly rental cost of the yacht, which belongs to billionaire Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, is $609,000.
Mr. Otedola rented the yacht for three weeks for his 60th birthday.
Going by the average rates on Charter Index, a luxury yacht rental site, the billionaire must have splurged $1.82700m (over N801m), for his three-week voyage.
The yacht will sail for three weeks around the Mediterranean Sea with 37 crew members.
The billionaire industrialist was filmed boarding the yacht in a luxury van with his luggage. He then exchanged pleasantries with the crew individually.
Otedola is joined on the cruise by his family and his soon-to-be son-in-law, Oluwatosin Ajibade, aka Mr Eazi.
In another clip, the billionaire, who turns 60 on 4 November, lounged in the Onassis Suite.
Aside from other luxury amenities, the yacht also has a bed with Otedola’s initials, FO, inscribed. He joins the elite list of celebrities and sobersides who have enjoyed a cruise on Christina O.
Celebrities who have boarded the yacht include Richard Burton, Clementine Churchill, Diana Churchill and Winston Churchill.
Others are John F. Kennedy, Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Grace Kelly, Anthony Montague Browne, J. Paul Getty, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Wayne.
Christina O is a private motor yacht that once belonged to billionaire Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis.
She is the 59th largest yacht worldwide as of 2022, measuring 99.13 metres long.
The boat initially served as a Canadian anti-submarine River-class frigate called HMCS Stormont, launched in 1943.
HMCS Stormont served as a convoy escort during the Battle of the Atlantic and was present at the Normandy landings.
Onassis purchased the Stormont after the end of World War II, as it was one of the many surplus naval vessels.
Purchasing the ship at a scrap value of US$34,000, Onassis then spent an additional US$4 million to convert the vessel into a luxurious superyacht named after his daughter Christina.
The yacht features large, ornate interiors and elaborate luxuries: such as a mosaic swimming pool that, once drained, can be raised to deck level to become a dance floor.
Architect Cäsar Pinnau remodelled the yacht, and the children’s dining room was designed and painted by the illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans.
Christina O has a main suite, eighteen-passenger staterooms, and numerous indoor and outdoor living areas, all connected by a spiral staircase.
In a statement, Mr. Otedola said the Greek shipping magnate who owned the superyacht has been his role model since he was 13 years old, 47 years ago.
He said: “As I mark my 60th birthday in the coming days, I am grateful to God for his continuous blessings and the wisdom he has continued to bestow upon me.
“The days leading up to this milestone have been marked by deep reflection, and I’m looking forward to sailing the CHRISTINA O with my family for the next three weeks.”
