While millions of viewers know her as the fictional Aurora Borealis, within the industry, she stands as one of the most technically accomplished and visually daring creations by Dutch shipyard Feadship.
On Set with Savannah
Filming for The Woman in Cabin 10 took place aboard Savannah in September 2024, primarily in Portland Harbour on England’s south coast. The Netflix thriller, adapted from Ruth Ware’s bestselling novel, follows travel journalist Lo Blacklock (Keira Knightley) on an exclusive press trip aboard a private luxury yacht. When she believes she has witnessed a woman being thrown overboard, paranoia sets in as all passengers remain accounted for and reality begins to blur.
Much of the film was shot on Savannah herself, whose mirrored corridors, metallic hull, and minimalist decks created a strikingly claustrophobic atmosphere. Only select cabin and corridor scenes were reconstructed at Shepperton Studios. One creative liberty stands out: in the film, each guest cabin features a private balcony, an element more associated with cruise ship design. In reality, private yachts of Savannah’s scale have enclosed staterooms, as deck space is reserved for communal and outdoor living areas.
By fusing cinematic fiction with real superyacht architecture, the filmmakers turned Savannah’s futuristic symmetry and reflective surfaces into part of the story’s tension, making the yacht feel as enigmatic as the mystery itself.
Design Vision: CG Design and De Voogt
Delivered in 2015 by Feadship’s Royal De Vries yard in Aalsmeer, Savannah was created in partnership with De Voogt Naval Architects and Paris-based CG Design, led by Cristina Gherardi Bernardeau and Marcello Bozzarelli. Gherardi, whose background lay in luxury retail architecture, approached yacht interiors with fresh perspective, favoring sculptural lines over traditional symmetry.
Working alongside build captain Ted McCumber, the team challenged conventions at every stage. Straight corridors and boxlike spaces were replaced with soft curves and continuous visual flow, creating a fluid interior that feels architectural rather than decorative.
Spaces That Translate to Screen
Inside, Savannah’s interiors are luminous, deliberate, and textural - an interplay of rosewood, silk, and mirrored steel balanced by soft wool carpets and curved bulkheads. The result is an atmosphere that feels sculptural yet calm, shaped by Cristina Gherardi Bernardeau’s architectural approach to motor yacht interiors. Straight corridors were eliminated entirely; every line curves gently to create a sense of motion and fluidity that mirrors the sea itself.
The main saloon flows directly onto the pool terrace, forming a continuous, light-filled space that filmmakers used extensively. Here, glass walls slide away to merge indoor and outdoor living, while overhead, a mirrored “starry sky” ceiling by Metis Lighting of Milan reflects sunlight by day and glimmers like constellations at night. Along the main deck passageway, five-meter-high video walls play abstract imagery and marine life footage, an immersive, ever-changing element designed to evoke movement even when the yacht is still.
Savannah accommodates 12 guests across six suites. The owner’s deck, entirely private, includes a skylit stateroom framed by arched glazing, a marble bathroom with panoramic sea views, and a minimalist dressing area. It was used for several of the film’s most intimate scenes, where natural light becomes a storytelling tool.
Perhaps the yacht’s most famous feature, the Nemo Lounge, sits semi-submerged on the port side. The curved, glass-walled space allows guests to view the sea below and can transform into a cinema using a retractable screen - an idea replicated for several key moments in The Woman in Cabin 10.
A floating staircase in rosewood connects all decks around a glass elevator, reinforcing the sense of spatial flow that defines Savannah. Every detail, from shifting light to curved geometry, contributes to the same quiet visual tension that the film draws upon: luxury, isolation, and the mesmerizing pull of the sea.
A Transom Redefined
At the stern, Savannah departs entirely from conventional layouts. Her aft decks cascade down past a nine-meter mosaic-tiled pool to a wide bathing platform, forming a multi-level beach club that connects directly with the sea. The pool’s abstract pattern, created with artist Cecily Brown, becomes the focal point of the yacht’s exterior composition.
Sliding glass walls open fully to merge the saloon with the pool terrace, establishing the kind of indoor-outdoor continuity that has since become a Feadship signature. This arrangement also served filmmakers well, providing cinematic sightlines and natural light across the main deck.
Hybrid Power and Technical Excellence
When she launched, Feadship described Savannah as “the world’s first true hybrid superyacht.” Her propulsion system remains one of the most sophisticated ever fitted to a private vessel.
A single Wärtsilä 9L20C main engine producing 2,415 hp is linked via a power in/out clutch to an electric motor, supported by three Caterpillar generators, a fixed central propeller, and an azimuthing thruster. This setup offers five operating modes, from fully diesel to fully electric, powered by a one-megawatt lithium-ion battery bank weighing almost 12 tons.
In electric mode, the system can run the entire hotel load in silence. At cruise, the yacht achieves 14 knots, with a range of 6,500 nautical miles, and a top speed of 17 knots. Tank testing confirmed her hull to be seven to eight percent more efficient than comparable displacement yachts, delivering fuel savings of up to 30 percent.
This architecture not only reduced emissions but laid the foundation for Feadship’s later hybrid and energy-recovery programs seen on Obsidian and Breakthrough.
Savannah’s Journey: From Award Winner to Screen Icon
Since her delivery, Savannah has remained one of Feadship’s defining projects. Her design and engineering earned six major awards, including Motor Yacht of the Year and Best Power 65m+ at the 2016 World Superyacht Awards and International Superyacht Society Awards, along with multiple ShowBoats Design Awards for holistic design, interior styling, and exterior architecture.
A comprehensive 2024 refit upgraded her hybrid systems, technical spaces, and metallic paintwork, keeping her at the forefront of modern superyacht standards. Earlier in 2025, she was sold in-house at Edmiston, with Andrew Bond representing the seller and Jonathan Barbe introducing the buyer - one of the standout 80m brokerage sales of the year.
Today, Savannah continues to represent Feadship’s commitment to technical precision and design clarity. Her role in The Woman in Cabin 10 has reintroduced her to a wider audience, highlighting both her engineering sophistication and her enduring relevance nearly a decade after launch.
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