I was doing a post of my experience on Kalizma and included a history section in it but discovered that there is quite a bit of it on the net so I separated it here and added to it, enjoy:
Kalizma, built in 1906, is considered the world's oldest yacht with a rich history. It has survived world wars, plagues, changing ownerships, and various life events, making it a symbol of resilience and endurance. The original name though, Minona, is after the African Goddess of sorcery and fortunetelling. Still I wonder how much of the original steel remains in her keel though...
Initially commissioned as the private steam yacht Minona in 1906 by Scotsman Robert Stewart, a famed businessman and Vice Commodore of the Royal Eastern Yacht Club, who made his fortune on distilling company Kirkliston. Minona was commissioned, at the height of the "Golden Age", as a luxury private yacht.
Timeline with notable milestones:
1906 built by Ramage & Ferguson and designed by the famous naval architect G.L. Watson as steampowered yacht "Minona"
1909 sold to George Coats when Mr Stewart passed
1914 owner George Coats offered her to the Navy and she went into service as Auxiliary patrol vessel
1919 discharged from naval services
1920 owner Andrew Coats
1930 sold to Sir Charles MacIver
1937 sold to George Urie Scott
1939 requisitioned by Royal Navy for examination service
1940 purchased by RN and renamed "HMS Minona" for HM deep sea rescue tug services and then she was made the flagship and base for His Majesty’s Deep Sea Rescue Tug Services at Campbeltown, Scotland.
1945 discharged from naval services
1946 laid up
1947 renamed "Cortynia" and registered in Greece (presumably by a Greek buyer)
1954 converted from steam to diesel, completed in 1955
1963 renamed "Odysseia" and registered in Belgium by new owner R. Roels
1967 sold to Richard Burton and gifted to Elizabeth Taylor, renamed "Kalizma", registered Nassau, Bahamas
1974 sold (?)
1980's various Owners, incl. Peter de Savary as base for America's cup in 1983, Tortola registry
1991 refit
1995 sold to Dr. Vijay Mallya, liquor baron, distiller, King of Good Times, registry British
2002 refit
2006 refit
2007 refit in India, re-engined (all 3 main engines and 2 gensets)
2017 laid up in Colombo, Sri Lanka, demasted and teak decks taken off
2018 placed under arrest in Colombo, Sri Lanka
2019 sold to Mr. Shirish Sharaf
2020 refitted interior completely and registered in Cook Islands
2023 refitted in Montenegro
2024 registered in Malta
GL Watson logo (courtesy of glwatson.com)
Kalizma has a significant historical background and has gone through several transformations over the years. I agree she's changed a lot, so much so, that the Moidart history group doubts that it is the same vessel mentioned in the annals of time as it appears that Mr Stewart commissioned 3 yachts of similar design and 3 ship models have been found. Again one have to remember that steel is easy to cut and fashion so ships do change shape when so desired, especially on yachts by their owner's who has the will and the means to do it at whim. It is remarkable that the bow of the 60's Kalizma pictures appear pretty rounded whereas today she has her original clipper bow back, I suspect it was welded back on during some refit.
Kalizma in 1913 (courtesy Kalizma.com)
Plaque from GL Watson denoting yachts designed by them that participated in the Great War, Minona down right (courtesy glwatson.com)
Designed by none other than G.L. Watson himself in 1904, and built in 1906 by the famous Scottish yacht builders Ramage and Ferguson, her design encompassed much of the elegance and luxuries of the time. This is a very bold statement as no pictures remain of her elegance and luxuries, when I was onboard a very old drawing still remained onboard but I think it was from the 70's. Nothing was left from the time but one can of course assume the luxuries of the time was good (warm) sleep, good food, comfortable interior and the wherewithal to ensure it. Interestingly "Minona" is not listed as a Ramage & Ferguson build by Wikipedia, this could be an oversight. R & F defaulted in 1934 and was bought over by another yard. Threadinburgh documents well several ships they've built, including Minona in this article.
G.L. Watson (courtesy Wikipedia)
The designer himself passed in 1904 according to Wikipedia and Minona is not listed as one of his designs either, I guess it is possible he left behind designs that were not catalogued or it is an oversight in the narrative. Would also be interesting to be able to examine the archives that still remain at the naval architect company bearing his name, GL Watson and housing it. As the interior has changed several times and the propulsion too in the 50's I'd be keen to see the original layout (if it exists). The hull itself though still has the original lines and she is a product of her time with more like a sailing ship kind of hull and a massive rudder that is excellent to give steerage despite having stopped engines.
"Despite having lines from the renowned for speed "clipper ships", the Kalizma was not built to race although was center stage at many international yacht races, including the America's Cup in 1983 where she was the host to Royalty". She definitely is not a speedboat, most charter catalogs lists her as a "gentleman's yacht" signifying that one should not be in a hurry to get anywhere. This is true because, if pushed, she could barely reach 11-12 kts on her 3 engines going red hot and the Engineer's growing anxious.
Record from 1963 Lloyd's register of yachts,
listing R. Roels owner of Odysseia, 249tons
(courtesy of books.google.fr)
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor appeared to have enjoyed Kalizma immensely as they had her refitted to their taste and Mr Burton wrote his diaries on her and about her too:
“(While on their yacht, the Kalizma) - It's a day of incomparable beauty. A couple of vagrant clouds, church bells from Beaulieu, half a dozen fishing boats, the ship swinging imperceptibly on her anchor, now towards the Voile d'Or now away. There is a very slight breeze. The flag is as lazy as a cat. There won't be many days as memorable as this. You have to recount them like diamonds in your pocket.”
― Richard Burton, The Richard Burton Diaries
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor July 1967 in Sardinia
(courtesy Kalizma.com)
"Kalizma's history can be accurately traced" it is said in many publications yet it seems the 70's and 80's were quite tumultuous and little or no record remains in the public domain who really owned and used her during those decades. When I was captain onboard I was once sent an email out of the blue from ex crew of hers in the 80's, they just related the good times they had had when crewing on her and now they were happily pensioned. They had found us via the website.
Kalizma in London Aug 1968 (courtesy alamy.com)
Sunday Times 7th July 1968, Kalizma interior photoshoot, '68 (courtesy of Ebay)
Kalizma, presumably in late 60's (courtesy Kalizma.com)
Kalizma at Pool of London 29.06.1968 (courtesy of Ebay)
"She has been acclaimed by many for her lines and sea worthiness, the quality of her build and the good taste in which she was designed", I do agree but the refit made in India adding the top deck on top did no favors to her lines and her stability to which she still pays for today with the tons of fixed ballast that was added in her tanktop in order to comply with (class society) stability criteria requirements. This makes her very slow and cumbersome to maneuver with a stiff metacentric height that basically makes stabilizers unnecessary because she doesn't roll, but boy does she pitch.
"Owned throughout history by the wealthy, the famous and elite and notable yachtsmen, there isn't a yacht today that has a lineage that can match that of the Kalizma", very true too although there are many yachts these days 100+ years old, Kalizma is probably the veritable classic among enthusiasts of the genre with her unique kind of star-spangled history in their background involving the hi-so.
It is also notable that there is hardly any mention of Cortynia nor Odysseia in any online entries so as such there is hardly any data available except that the name changes happened. I think when she was Odysseia she was put to work as a charter yacht for the possibly Greek owners as she was registered in Greece, same most likely when she was under Belgian ownership. Very common to put the asset to work and try alleviate the running costs whilst enabling the lifestyle.
Even as Kalizma she disappeared from the tabloids after the Burton's sold her and she starting changing hands until Peter de Savary, another flamboyant yachtsman, got her for a short period and used her as a base at the America's cup. Then she once again sank into oblivion until Vijay Mallya bought her and she then from time to time appeared in magazines as a feature rabbiting the same old history and mentioning Elizabeth Taylor, the diamond and Peter de Savary. In between these flamboyant hi-so people she was then probably owned by businessmen that preferred to remain unnamed grey eminences maintaining their privacy.
Motorboat & sailing magazine January 1983 edition, courtesy of Ebay below, quite notable that the interior has changed somewhat from above of the 1967 photoshoot, also the registry has changed from Nassau to Tortola:
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Motorboat & sailing
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Motorboat & sailing
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Motorboat & sailing
Motorboat & sailing
Peter de Savary, one of the many Kalizma owner's
(courtesy of desavary.com)
Kalizma from Peter de Savary's time (courtesy of fliphtml5)
Kalizma during 80's (unknown photographer)
Yachting World, Aug 1986 clipping (courtesy Moidart),
article lists the current owner as 16th (at the time)
Kalizma in Antigua 1988 (courtesy shipsnostalgia.com user: MikeC)
Kalizma in Antigua 1988 (courtesy shipsnostalgia.com user: MikeC)
Kalizma transiting Corinth canal 1987 (courtesy shipsnostalgia.com user: MikeC)
1992 January edition of Classic boat magazine features following headline "Kalizma - A 1906 motor yacht is restored in 1991. Robin Gates reports."
1992 March edition of Yachting magazine lists Kalizma for charter with 7 crew and 10 guest capacity in the Med for a rate of 6500USD/day.
Charter listings from summer 1992, Yachting magazine
In 2001 Kalizma was in Dubai undergoing a refit once again and according to Hello! she was up for sale.
In 2006 Kalizma was refitted in Mumbai, India and managament by West Coast Marine as documented by their article, below a few pictures showing her before her transformation of today:
Before the refit in 2006
Before the refit in 2006
2017 Financial times writes an article about Richard Tang where he mentions Kalizma fleetingly among the vessels he's traveled on. He was onboard with me on Kalizma in 2008 for a trip in Thailand with friends.
2018 July Kalizma was seized in Colombo, Sri Lanka pending an affidavit issued by an underwriter having paid off crew wages as per the Sunday Times article.
2021 Dec, "First Superyacht to berth at Port City Colombo Marina", article by Lanka Business online. I'm assuming she had been freed of her lien by now.
2022 an award was granted to the designing company, Palazzo Morelli, that was used in her recent interior refit.
2023 in April Kalizma was under fire from pirates off the coast of Yemen, article by Guardian but reporter has done a sloppy job and put a picture from before her refit in India and is missing the extra deckhouse she now has on top her monkey island.
2023 in October I brought Kalizma to Limassol, Cyprus Business online clocked us in their article
Kalizma on the shiplift, Jan 2024 (courtesy shipspotting.com)
2024 in January she was drydocked in Montenegro as documented by shipspotting
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