• Guests

    12

  • Cabins

    6

  • Crew

    9

Length GT Built
49.8m
499 GT 2025
Beam Draft Top Speed
9.1m 2.15m 16.3 Kts

Delivered in 2025, Orion is a multi-award winning 49.8m motor yacht built by Dutch shipyard Heesen. The yacht's exteriors have been penned by Omega Architects, while Cristiano Gatto Design has designed her interiors.

Key Features

  • Floor-to-ceiling windows
  • Spacious sundeck lounge bar, jacuzzi.
  • 6.2m tender launched with a 2400kg crane
  • Full-beam owner's suite
  • Beach club includes gym, sauna
  • Four cruising modes

Design & Construction

Designed around a fast displacement aluminium hull and superstructure she features a 9.1m beam and a 2.15m draft. The yacht is built over 3 decks with an internal volume of 499 GT (Gross Tonnes).

Construction started in late 2022 with the keel laid under the project name 'Orion'. Launched in December 2024 this yacht undertook sea trials over the following months. She was delivered to her owners in June 2025.

Exterior Design

Orion is the fifth yacht in Heesen’s 50m aluminium hybrid series, and the exterior has evolved quite a long way from the first yacht, Home. Frank Laupman of Omega Architects keeps the basic fast-displacement proportions, but the glass area is much greater, the lines are sharper and the aft decks are more open.

The vertical bow is part styling and part hull design. It extends the waterline to improve efficiency and gives the 50m (164ft) hull a fairly upright, purposeful stance, while the long black glazing band through the main deck breaks up what is otherwise a substantial white hull side. Heesen says Orion carries around 33% more exterior glass than earlier 50m semi-displacement yachts.

The GA makes the outdoor hierarchy much clearer. The main deck aft is arranged as a large open guest area directly behind the saloon, while the bridge deck adds another substantial terrace behind the skylounge. Above, the sundeck is almost entirely given over to guests, with loungers aft, two large dining arrangements amidships and the Jacuzzi set forward of them.

At water level, the hydraulically operated swim platform is a particularly useful piece of the layout. It can lower partially into the sea for swimming and watersports, or rise to quay height for boarding. Behind it sits the lower-deck wellness centre, so the stern works as one connected exercise, spa and water-access area rather than simply a platform bolted onto the transom.

That arrangement is also one of the biggest changes from earlier sisterships. Cristiano Gatto explained during construction that the gym had previously been positioned among the guest accommodation, separated from the beach area by the machinery spaces. On Orion it moves right aft, where it can operate as a gym, exercise room or extension of the beach club, with a sauna and bathroom alongside.

Interior Design

Cristiano Gatto’s interior is considerably richer than the exterior suggests. More than 37 materials are brought together across the yacht, including glossy and matt woods, woven leather, marble and custom carpets, but the layout itself remains quite simple.

The main saloon uses the floor-to-ceiling glazing particularly well. Large windows sit close to the seating rather than behind deep cabinetry, while the open bulwarks outside keep sightlines down towards the water. Soft grey carpet, polished metal and the silver Majilite ceiling give the room a cooler base, with darker timber used to add depth.

The GA shows the main deck saloon arranged as one long social space, with lounge seating aft and formal dining further forward. Sliding doors allow parts of the room to be divided when needed, and the amidships galley sits immediately alongside the dining area for short service routes.

Material detail is much more involved than the broad colour scheme suggests. Gatto specified ebony in matt and polished finishes, plantation-grown teak, Cadorin timber flooring and a mix of Bianco Lasa, Travertino Navona, Patagonia and Emperador Brown marble. Loose furniture comes from names including Minotti, Giorgetti, B&B Italia, Maxalto and Promemoria, alongside custom pieces.

The beach and wellness area takes a more practical approach. A synthetic decking material was chosen in place of conventional teak because it copes better with oil, sun cream and heavy use, comes in a broader range of finishes and can be repaired or reapplied more easily. That makes sense in one of the hardest-working areas aboard.

The bridge deck adds a large skylounge behind the wheelhouse and captain’s cabin. It opens onto its own aft terrace, giving Orion another enclosed social room without asking the main saloon to handle every kind of guest use.

Accommodation

Orion accommodates 12 guests in six cabins, with the full-beam owner’s suite forward on the main deck and five guest cabins below.

The owner’s cabin uses Nabuk wall panels, oak Tatami flooring and a white lacquered ceiling with recessed LED lighting. The bathroom brings together Patagonia marble and polished white Lasa marble, continuing the more detailed material treatment used elsewhere in the interior.

The lower deck has an unusually generous arrangement for a 50m yacht. A full-beam VIP sits amidships, with two further doubles and two twins arranged forward of it. Keeping five guest cabins together on this level creates a very clear guest zone between the crew spaces forward and the machinery and wellness areas aft.

Nine crew are accommodated separately, with four crew cabins, a crew mess and the captain’s cabin positioned close to the wheelhouse on the bridge deck. The GA also shows the crew and service areas concentrated forward on the lower deck, which keeps working routes away from the main guest accommodation.

Performance & Capabilities

The hybrid drivetrain is still one of Orion’s most interesting features. The yacht combines diesel-mechanical propulsion with diesel-electric operation, so the same drivetrain can be used quite differently depending on whether quietness, range or speed takes priority.

Twin MTU 12V 2000 M61 diesels produce around 600kW each, and the lightweight aluminium construction works with Van Oossanen’s fast-displacement hull form to keep the machinery package relatively modest for a 50m yacht.

At the top end, Boost Mode combines the diesels and electric motors for approximately 16.3 knots. Conventional cruising sits around 12 to 13 knots, while Heesen quoted fuel consumption of 98 litres per hour at 12 knots, excluding hotel load.

The quieter end of the envelope is more interesting. In electric propulsion mode Orion can run at up to around 9 knots, and Heesen quoted noise levels of just 46dB(A) inside the owner’s stateroom. During the build, the yard also quoted fuel use as low as 45 litres per hour in hybrid operation.

Range is approximately 3,750 nautical miles at 10 knots, while the shallow 2.15m (7.1ft) draft is unusually useful for a yacht of this length and opens up cruising areas that would be awkward for deeper 50m yachts.

Zero-speed stabilisers deal with roll at anchor, while the hybrid system reduces vibration as well as noise when the electric motors are doing the work.

Tenders

Tender handling has been pushed away from those aft guest spaces. The plan and overhead image show the Williams tender and PWC storage concentrated on the foredeck, so the stern remains clear for swimming, lounging and access to the wellness area below. The separate Vanquish VQ45 chase boat handles larger transfers without consuming deck space aboard.

Orion Yacht is not For Sale

Motor yacht Orion is off the market at the moment, but you can browse other Heesen 50m Aluminium FDHF Yachts for sale worldwide. For more options, check out all Heesen Yachts for sale or search all new & used yachts for sale across the globe using YachtBuyer’s Market Watch.

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