Italian yard Baglietto has held the keel-laying ceremony for its fully custom 48-metre project, hull no. 10277, at its facilities in Carrara, Italy. The milestone marks the start of construction on the yacht, which was commissioned in collaboration with brokerage firm Floating Life and Volvo Penta.
The ceremony was attended by the owner and representatives of Floating Life, which developed the project and is acting as owner’s representative and surveyor throughout the build. The company is also responsible for the hull and naval architecture, developed in collaboration with Zero13, while Baglietto is overseeing production engineering.
Exterior and interior design is being handled by Floating Life alongside Italian studio Satura Studio.
Originally unveiled at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2025, the 48-metre project was developed around the owner’s request for “an extremely seaworthy vessel that would allow him to cruise around the world”.
Designed to achieve Ice Class 1D certification for navigation at high latitudes, the yacht will pair this capability with an emphasis on indoor-outdoor living, including a panoramic main-deck saloon enclosed by 360-degree glazing and interiors featuring warm, natural materials.
A key custom touch for this project is the 10-metre tender launching system, which the owner's team had specially designed and modelled on the historical hauling systems used by Italian shipyards between the 1940s and 1960s. A retractable platform allows the tender to be launched directly into the sea and retrieved safely - a solution "unmatched on the market", developed in collaboration with Besenzoni.
Propulsion will be entrusted to the Volvo Penta IPS Professional Platform, which includes a dual power input design that allows for the combination of different energy sources for "maximum flexibility and operational redundancy". A particularly intelligent feature is the Eco Mode, which automatically optimises engine operation based on real navigation conditions, while the system's compactness frees up volume that would otherwise be dedicated to the engine room, meaning more space for owners, guests or crew.
The engine room will be placed on the "under-lower deck", allowing for an uninterrupted lower deck from stern to bow. This sense of flow is enhanced by transparent staircases connecting the various decks.
Commenting on the keel-laying, Baglietto CCO Fabio Ermetto said: "Keel laying is always a significant milestone in the construction of a yacht. It marks the moment when a project begins to take tangible shape and a shared vision starts to become reality." He added that the ceremony represented the beginning of a journey built on expertise, collaboration and mutual trust between the shipyard, owner and project partners.
Floating Life co-founder and director Andrea Pezzini said the project had been developed from the owner's initial concept, translating their requirements into the yacht's design and engineering. He highlighted the importance of Baglietto's technical expertise and its willingness to explore innovative solutions, particularly for the challenges associated with high-latitude navigation.
According to BOATPro, Baglietto has 11 superyacht projects on order or under construction, the largest of which are two T60 models.
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