The life and times of ‘Equanimity’

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Each superyacht’s story should be full of romance and adventure on the High Seas but for Equanimity her journey so far feels something more akin to a Greek tragedy.

Built in 2014 by OceanCo, the 91 metre, 2,998 GT, Equanimity can take up to 22 guests. The interior was designed by Winch Design and it comes with a beach club, a swimming pool, helipad, a gym, steam room and a Turkish bath. She was widely admired when launched and reportedly cost $260 million.
However, in 2018 the dream for Equanimity came to an abrupt end when she was seized by Indonesia authorities at the request of the High Court of Malay.

Unbeknownst to Equanimity she had been caught up in a political scandal and her alleged owner Jho Low was in deep trouble for purportedly misappropriating funds from the state investment company 1MDB.

Earlier this month the court appointed Burgess Yachts to be the selling agent of the superyacht. It also decided that the sale would take place thought a sealed bid auction. The minimum bid is based on an undisclosed appraisal conducted by Winterbothams.

One concern for any bidder is whether the yacht will be caught up in other 1MDB litigation (and there is a lot going on).

“The ship will be clean of all claims that may have existed before. Once she is sold by the Sheriff of the court then the purchaser gets a clean title,” says Sitpah Selvaratnam, a shipping law specialist and co-founder of Malaysian law firm Tommy Thomas who is advising on the sale. She says so far there have been no competing claims.

“Of course, there are many suits all over the world in regard to the 1MDB but they are based on other properties, art work etc. But to the vessel — No,” says Ms Selvaratnam. “We have not seen any party contest the Admiralty action because it’s really sound.”

The final chapters in the life and times of Equanimity have not yet been written and there are perhaps more twists and turns to come.

With her future in the hands of finding a potential buyer the saga of the intrepid yacht rages on.

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