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 known for being one of the leading builders of the world's largest superyachts and megayachts, but it has a forward-looking approach. In 2025, the company delivered a groundbreaking new superyacht that incorporated methanol fuel cells into its design. The 114.2m Cosmos was built for a Japanese owner and has two 500kW methanol fuel cells that enable the vessel to cruise up to seven knots for a range of 1,000 nautical miles.

The boat can also be powered by diesel, through separate tanks, but Lürssen has previously stated that, ‘My dream is to be the first to build a yacht without a combustion engine.’ However, he acknowledged to Spear’s that the transition would not be easy. ‘You can’t just flick a switch.’

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