VIAREGGIO — Rossinavi, a family-owned Viareggio shipyard, has built what it calls the world’s first superyacht run by artificial intelligence, a hybrid-electric catamaran that crosses the Pacific mostly on battery power.

“We build for a fortunate few,” says Federico Rossi, who runs the yard with his father and sister. Rossinavi delivers two or three yachts a year, each one custom and ranging from 40 to 75 metres, with seven or eight under construction at any one time.

Full custom, 2 or 3 boats a year

Each build takes around three years, so the work spreads across years rather than landing all at once. The yard turns over about €120mn and employs 160 people. Its largest boats, at 70 metres, can cost around €150mn.

The brand was born in 2008, during the financial crisis, when buyers seeking value walked into a yard that had long built hulls for other names. Rossi’s father started as a metal carpenter, and the firm remains a specialist in steel and light alloy. “My father still works. I began with him in 1991, as his assistant,” Rossi says. A third generation has joined.

Full custom is a high-wire act. “It is a difficult trade, with very high business risk, balanced by build capability,” Rossi says. A typical client, he adds, is an industrialist who builds his own boat rather than buying one off the market, one that will stay unique.

The showpiece carries a megawatt and a half of batteries, two electric motors, small generators and 160 square metres of solar panels, all run by Rossinavi’s own artificial-intelligence system. 

“It crosses the Pacific 80 per cent of the time on electric, and we built it in Viareggio,” Rossi says. Another vessel, the 47-metre Berserk, is in build for delivery in 2029, carrying a 13-metre tender, more than twice the usual size, and selling for around €45mn. Rossi has also built with designers including Fulvio De Simoni and the studio of architect Zaha Hadid.

Inside the “Nautical Motor Valley”

Being inside what Rossi calls a nautical motor valley is decisive. “There is no ‘Made in Viareggio’, but in part we feel it,” he says, noting that 40 qualified marine fitters sit within easy reach. Clients split evenly between Europe and the Americas, and the order horizon reaches 2031.

He will not expand output, because following each client so closely is the point. The slogan on the workshop wall reads, “We are our best,” less a boast than a limit the family has chosen to live by.