The Residential Cruise Line Ltd. announced an agreement (called a Memorandum of Understanding) with Aker Yards to start building the Magellan. This is the first step in building their residential cruise ship, and an important one since Acker Yards is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world. However, the finalization of the project is still subject to the completion of financing the project.

Designed by the Norwegian firm of Petter Yran and Bjorn Storbraaten Architects A.S., the Magellan will be the largest residential cruise ship in the world. The Residential Cruise Line willl offer fractional and full ownership of luxury, high end residences and penthouses. The ship will feature a full-service retractable marina, on-call private Bell 429 helicopters, a 450-seat satellite broadcast capable theater, and 24-hour on-call concierge. Private residences on the Magellan range in price from $1.875 million to $8 million for penthouses and from $156,250 for fractional ownership residences.

Residential Cruise Line recently announced the launch of their Magellan Vacation Club, a new vacation club program, where for 20 years, club owners get a personalized two-week vacation to any of the ship’s destinations – 300 ports-of-call in 150 countries.

The planned launch of the Magellan is May 2009. For more information on the Residential Cruise Line and similar offerings, see our Quick Guide to Residential Cruise Ships.