Octopus, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Photo
supplied.
The largest superyacht to visit the South is heading to
Fiordland, but whether its billionaire owner - Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen - is on board remains a mystery.
The 127m-long Octopus, which boasts two helicopters,
two submarines, a basketball court, cinema and pool, left for
Fiordland on Monday after a three-day stopover in Timaru.
A Port Otago pilot is piloting the vessel from Timaru to
Fiordland, before returning to Bluff after his four-day
journey.
Port Otago commercial manager Peter Brown said every year the
port company received one or two pilot requests from
superyachts heading to the Fiordland area.
The vessel ''was probably the largest one that has been in
this part of the world'', but details concerning the voyage
would not be disclosed, he said.
It was not known whether Mr Allen (60), who co-founded
software giant Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, was on
board the vessel.
Forbes magazine estimated the university dropout's wealth to
be $US15 billion ($NZ17.75 billion) in September last year.
- hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
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