Peter Lürssen

Spear’s Review

Peter Lürssen is at the helm of German shipbuilder Lürssen, which traces its roots to 1875, when his great grandfather Friedrich Lürssen built a small boatyard near Bremen. At first it specialised in rowing boats. More than a decade later, the company built the world’s first motorboat in collaboration with Gottlieb Daimler, a founder of Daimler AG (now Mercedes-Benz), pioneering the field of larger boat building.

Today, Lürssen is still a leading name in the HNW shipbuilding world but with more modern ambitions. It is using new technology and incorporating methanol fuel cells into a new yacht which will provide it with 15 nights of power at anchor, or enable the craft to slow-cruise for more than 1,000 miles, emission free. This is expected to be delivered in 2025. 

‘My dream is to be the first to build a yacht without a combustion engine,’ Lürssen says. But he acknowledged to Spear's that the transition would not be easy. ‘You can’t just flick a switch.’

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Lürssen, the privately run, north German yacht builder, was founded in 1875 and remains solely in the hands of the fourth generation. ‘To lead in terms of quality and performance, that should be my company’s reputation.’ This ambition of company founder Friedrich Lürssen still characterises the philosophy of the Bremen-based shipyard today. With the build of one of the world’s first motorboats in 1886, the pioneer laid the foundation for his international leading shipyard, which today has an outstanding reputation as the specialist for exclusive, bespoke yachts of outstanding craftsmanship and engineering mastery – ranging in size from 60 to over 180 metres. 

The family-owned business has deep roots in shipbuilding and is proud to offer the proverbial ‘German precision’ with every single project, regardless of whether it’s a Lürssen new-build or the repair of a yacht built by another shipyard. In this respect, Lürssen always pursues an ambitious goal: that a refitted yacht leaves the shipyard as if it were new. 

With three shipyards in North Germany, Lürssen has highly specialised equipment at its disposal which enables more than 1,800 employees to build, overhaul and repair ships. A central characteristic of the owner-operated shipbuilding company is its independence from any kind of outside influence. The quality of the products alone is the measure of all things. 

The environmentally aware company is consistently investing in sustainable technologies and innovations, which has led to great progress in the advancements of sustainability. The latest generation of Lürssen superyachts boasts improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions as well as a reduction in noise levels. Lürssen has been driving the research and development of fuel cells powered by methanol for many years and already has the first yacht with fuel cell technology under construction.