The ‘Five Oceans’ Superyacht Sails the World With Every Imaginable Toy
Most yachts will never get beyond the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Not so for the 175-foot Five Oceans—the second hull in Damen Yachting’s YS53 model that follows our recent Best of the Best Winner Bad Company Support 175. The flashy Five Oceans goes far beyond the usual yachting parameters, built to explore the depths of the ocean while protecting the marine environment. It not only accommodates an ICON A5 aircraft, a Triton 3300 submersible, two military-spec Nova Marine tenders, but has a professional dive center with two nitrox compressors and a decompression chamber.
While it’s part of Damen’s yacht support series, Five Oceans was designed as a primary vessel, says Rob Dolling, founder of Verpeka Dolling Superyachts, who served as the owner’s representative throughout the build. “Five Oceans was conceived for autonomous operation for up to 30 days in remote locations,” he tells Robb Report. “The aim was to go everywhere on a three-year circumnavigation—Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Australia, the Philippines—some really remote places where support wouldn’t be available.”
The yacht’s former owners—Tommy Allen, who is director of global operations at Five Oceans Global Solutions, and a U.S. family that provided financial backing for the project (this being their first yacht)—spent two years in the design and planning stages before construction began in 2022.
“Tommy used to have shared ownership of a boat called 6711 Geo—a 220-foot Damen bought in 2018,” says Dolling. “It was only 26 feet longer than Five Oceans but twice the volume and looked like a military ship with an imposing gray hull and stenciled numbers on the side.”
6711 Geo served as a yacht support vessel for the 446-foot superyacht Flying Fox, but had its limitations in terms of guest spaces. “We spent all our time in the dive store at the back of the boat underneath a large commercial helipad,” says Dolling. “It was the best dive center you’ve ever seen but not intended for socializing.”
When Allen drew up the spec for Five Oceans, he incorporated all the elements he was missing from 6711 Geo, namely comfortable areas to dine outdoors and an elevated guest interior with “decent furniture, good linens, and nice bathrooms.” And of course, all the capability, with more than $5.5 million spent on bespoke options and outfitting. Over half of the original crew of 28 was comprised of former Royal Marines, who doubled as deck medics and dive instructors. The captain could drive the boat, as well as fly a plane and a helicopter—and pilot the submarine.
“I flew to Antalya, Turkey, every few weeks and sat brainstorming with Damen’s design and technical teams,” says Dolling. “They really pushed what they could do with this platform. Their series is significantly better following Five Oceans because they invested a lot of effort and research into perfecting hull number two.”
Alas, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Due to “differences of opinion” at the end of the build, the yacht was put up for sale for $30 million. It was sold to a new owner in May 2025, just eight months after delivery. Despite plans to cruise every corner of the world, its only trip was the fairly short maiden voyage from Antalya to Monaco. The U.S. family is now planning a much larger vessel along the lines of a 197-foot SeaXplorer, which has three times the gross tonnage, while the new owner of Five Oceans will use it as shadow vessel and toy hangar for a much larger superyacht. We’re hopeful that it will eventually live up to its name as a global explorer. Despite the change in plans, there’s little doubt that Five Oceans remains as the most advanced design of a support vessel that can double as a primary yacht.
Here are our favorite features on the world’s most autonomous floating toy box.
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The Paint Job
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The yacht’s distinctive contrasting baby-blue and orange exterior was first inspired by renderings of a Damen SeaXplorer. Former owner Allen, a fan of KTM motorbikes which have a similar bright orange hue, was “immediately on board” with the unusual color scheme. The whimsical look also served a more serious purpose—to ensure the yacht appears non-threatening. “Tommy’s previous yacht, the 6711 Geo, had a stealth appearance caused us to be buzzed by military helicopters everywhere we went because we looked like a military ship,” says Rob Dolling, who oversaw Five Oceans build as the owner’s rep. “If Five Oceans was to cruise into China, the Philippines, or Indonesia, we didn’t want to look like a threat, so we made it as bright as possible.”
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Exploring at Depth
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The yacht’s Triton 3300 submersible carries three passengers and can descend to depths of 3,300 feet. The rugged docking platform allows for easy launch and recovery over the side with the on-deck, 18-ton crane. On the starboard side sits a 10-foot blue container, which was stripped, sandblasted, and converted into a support equipment hangar for the Triton. At the stern is a stainless-steel plate that drops out to run cords with oxygen, electrical power and air conditioning to the sub.
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Riding High
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts Two 33-foot military-grade Nova Marine BS 100 tenders are built with Kevlar materials with composite-carbon-fiber hulls. “When you ride them, you feel like you’re in a Bentley,” says Dolling. The tenders both top out at over 50 knots. The pimped-out machines are also kitted out with radar, extreme sound systems, night-vision screens, and a day head. Although they look like twins, the missions are different: One has teak decks and comfortable seating for guest transfers, while the other is used for diving.
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Salon of Dreams
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The main salon is a light-filled haven featuring a marble dining table with brass chairs and two beautiful oak cabinets washed in the Five Oceans blue with brass finishes (inspired by the interior of Pink Shadow, another support vessel being built at Damen in the adjacent shed). A large television (one of only two onboard) and a high-end AV system (costing around $900,000) allows the space to double as a media room with full electric blackout blinds. These plunge the room into complete darkness to show movies or the submarine’s undersea runs, or to hold confidential meetngs.
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Ultimate Toy Store
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The yacht’s vast aft deck is a defining feature, designed to accommodate the extensive list of onboard toys. These include two supercharged 70-knot Jet Skis, which “weren’t really built as toys,” says Dolling, but to access “shallow-water places.” The three-person blacked-out machines can go into challenging areas where the tenders can’t be used and even tow a sled with scientific equipment. The rear deck has room for an ICON A5 aircraft with foldable wings. “It would have allowed us to look at locations over 600 miles away in a few hours or do air reconnaissance for anchorages,” says Dolling. The yacht is fitted with aircraft radio transmitters for ship-to-plane communication.
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View From the Bridge
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The large touchscreen on Five Oceans’s bridge is the first of its kind, incorporating route planning, night vision cameras, CCTV security and weather routing. An owner’s lounge located just aft features sofas, and a coffee table embedded with a large LCD screen where the owner can make plans and send them directly to the captain’s navigation system for approval. The helm is also where the yacht’s electronic security system is monitored from. “Because we were going to remote places, we installed electronic security on every hatch and door, so if anything was opened or left open, we’d know about it,” says Dolling.
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Room for More
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts Five Oceans‘s moderately sized guest cabins include an owner’s suite, two double cabins, and two twins. Design improvements included taking space from the captain’s cabin to make a larger VIP. Each cabin has high-end speakers for music, but all are deliberately designed without televisions. “The boat wouldn’t have been fulfilling its purpose if guests were in their cabins watching a movie instead of being outdoors,” says Dolling.
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The Deepest Dive
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The custom dive center takes over the complete lazarette, normally used for storage. It contains two nitrox compressors and a two-part decompression chamber. A custom hatch in the deck allows one part of the chamber can be lifted out by crane and transported under pressure to hospital. Custom features include a wetsuit drying room with stainless-steel racks that pump hot air—“dive in the morning, have lunch, and step into dry wetsuits in the afternoon,” says Dolling—and a table made from caviar stone, and 18 scuba tank bottles that replicate the set up aboard 6711 Geo.
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Hub of Hospitality
Image Credit: Verpeka Dolling Superyachts The bridge deck aft is the social hub of the yacht, with a custom table for alfresco dining, two sun beds and a lounging sofa. A large balcony overlooks the main deck to watch as the toys are deployed, while a second relaxing lounge area at the bow of the boat brings additional privacy and views.
