PHOTO: Claus Schäfe/TheYachtPhoto.com Today, the fifth-largest megayacht in the world launched at Lürssen . She’s Topaz, and she’s taking yacht spotters and the industry alike by storm.

Wynyard district in 2007, pre-development Government officials in Auckland, New Zealand want to see more services for more superyachts in their city. They’re focused on a hauling facility being developed and are therefore courting private investors, but they also want residents to help foot the bill, to the tune of NZ$16.8 million (about US$13.37 million).

Wynyard district in 2007, pre-development Government officials in Auckland, New Zealand want to see more services for more superyachts in their city.

These days, it’s not enough to “just” have watertoys aboard. Take a peek inside the tender garages of some megayachts, and you’ll see tenders color coordinated to match the mothership.

PHOTO: Roberto Merlo Some superyacht industry representatives say this is the year of the refit. They base this on the experience after past recessions. Existing yacht owners typically start feeling more comfortable spending on major maintenance and refurbishment

PHOTO: Superyacht Media Here’s your chance not only to bid on an ideal superyacht vacation, but to support solid ideals, too. The owners of the superyacht catamaran Hemisphere, delivered by Pendennis last year, are offering a weeklong charter as part of the Christie’s Green Auction: A Bid to Save the Earth.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but at Amels , only a handful are needed. The photo here, just a few of the six superyachts being handed over in the coming weeks, came through with the comment, “never mind the Côte d’Azur, here’s Côte Flushing!” Specifically, Amels has two refit projects (both Amels builds, too) departing its shipyard on the North Sea in a few weeks

You may have read the news over the weekend about film director James Cameron successfully diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. What you may not have heard is that the superyacht Octopus was on site for the history-making dive. Not only that, but Octopus’ owner, Paul Allen, was onboard the yacht, posting updates on the social media site Twitter the entire time.

While the largest Vitruvius under construction won’t be delivered until 2013, her tender will be ready well before that. The 31-footer (9.5-meter) owner’s tender depicted here is being built at Cockwells in the UK. Cockwells is better known in its own country and in Europe than it is in the USA

Danish Yachts came to most yacht buyers’ attention with the delivery of Moon Goddess in 2006. In the same spirit of that lightweight, super-fast superyacht, Danish Yachts introduced the AeroCruiser 38 II series, of which the 125-foot (38-meter) Shooting Star is the first launch.