The Boat From ‘The Life Aquatic,' is Now For Sale... as a Luxury Yacht
For a mere $350,000 and some maritime permits, you took can life the life aquatic and join Team Zissou.
The large and well-worn vessel that Wes Anderson used for his 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou has been put up for sale, with a list price of $350,000. It’s just the latest chapter in the rich and surprisingly varied life of this vessel, which first set sail in 1958 as a British minesweeper called the HMS Packington. Soon afterward, it was bought by the South African Navy, and renamed the SAS Walvisbaai.
After more than 40 years, the ship was purchased for The Life Aquatic, which starred Bill Murray as a self-absorbed, down-on-his-luck oceanographer — like a lesser Jacques Cousteau. The boat served that film with distinction, even if the most famed shot of the Belafonte — the cross-section tour embedded below — was actually built on an interior set.
After the film wrapped, the real boat was sold to a millionaire in Dubai, who sailed it from Italy to the Middle East, and spent years refurbishing it into a yacht. Now, it’s been completely transformed, from a rusty old tanker to a plush sea palace, which you can explore here.
The price tag on the boat isn’t cheap, but then again, it’s just more than a tenth of the cost of the giant townhouse in Harlem where Anderson shot much of The Royal Tenenbaums; that property most recently sold for $3.38 million.
