Michelle Obama crusies on Steven Speilberg's $250 million 'Seven Seas' yacht with Tom Hanks

Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States joined the closeted ocean voyage on Steven Spielberg's $250 million Seven Seas megayacht along with Kate Capshaw, Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson on Saturday.

The millionaire film director is now the proud owner of the new and improved Seven Seas megayacht and is currently vacationing in Europe at the same time as the yacht's first voyage. Seven Seas was delivered in July and is still making its way around Europe as of late September.

The most recent A-lister to join Spielberg and his wife on board is Former First Lady Michelle Obama.

The day's activities included a snorkelling excursion off the coast of Portofino, which provided the opportunity to get brand-new images of one of the yacht's tenders. 

The big water limousine, also known as Seven Seas, has mothership-inspired styling, as is customary with builds as elaborate and costly as this one.

The social media post that follows has a link to images of this highly exclusive and sometimes reclusive group of A-listers having fun onboard and around one of the recent launches that has garnered the most attention in the industry.

The covert Seven Seas

Film directors, particularly men with as much experience as Spielberg, don't operate in the same way as some of the younger performers do. To put it another way, they go to tremendous measures to keep their personal life hidden, which obviously means keeping their accomplishments like improving their own yacht to themselves.

Spielberg has owned two boats, the second of which is called Seven Seas. The previous Seven Seas, which he purchased in 2010 and which Oceanco also constructed, was smaller (86 meters/282 feet) but no less opulent, at an estimated cost of about $150 million.

Spielberg had already ordered the replacement with Oceanco, essentially the go-to yard for custom megayachts for the world's billionaires, before even putting the first Seven Seas on the market. 

Seven Seas is 109 metres (357 feet) long, internally known as Project Y720, and has exteriors by Sinot Yacht Architecture and interiors by Isaksen Design.

It had its technical launch earlier this year and was involved in an unforeseen legal dispute while undergoing sea trials when the broker handling the commission sued the shipyard for unpaid fees that had been verbally agreed upon. 

After the initial news item, not much was heard about the lawsuit, so we assume that it was eventually amicably resolved between two (billionaire) gentlemen.

Few details regarding Seven Seas, which is valued at more than $250 million, are known; as of this writing, not even journalists from trade journals have been let onboard. However, details and pictures of the interior should be made available to the public if it is listed for charter after the first voyage.

A floating palace with an equivalent carbon footprint

We can only imagine the interiors of this new megayacht for the time being based on the briefest of descriptions and our imagination.

The interiors, in the words of Oceanco, are "a spectacular example of graceful contemporary design that honours the natural surroundings." They are trendy, elegant, and refined. There is space for 14 guests and 30 crew members, and the extensive list of amenities includes everything from a private cinema and a helipad for unforeseen or urgent arrivals and departures to an enormous beach club and a large pool.

Seven Seas is no pushover, despite its size. It can reach a top speed of 20 knots (23 mph/37 mph) using two 4,813 horsepower MTU 20V 4000 M73L diesel engines. It also has a sophisticated hull that improves hydrodynamics, leading to increased efficiency and performance, and a marine evacuation system, making it the first Oceanco vessel to do so.

Additionally, Seven Seas is the cause of the recent online outrage directed towards Spielberg for allegedly being an eco-hypocrite.

When Seven Seas isn't moving, claims on the internet suggest that it consumes roughly 700 litres (185 gallons) of fuel each hour solely to run hotel operations. Being the owner of a superyacht with such a large carbon footprint won't assist Spielberg in his arguments about how the rest of the world has to stop flying and taking cruises. The superyacht business continues to be a major polluter.