Gossip: World's largest private yacht takes to the sea after £400m three-year

This is the moment the world's largest private yacht took to the sea. 

Azzam, which was built by German firm Lurssen, is a staggering 590 feet long - a £400million floating palace which has knocked Roman Abramovich off the owners' top spot.

It was officially unveiled for the first time in April following three years at the shipbuilder's docks in Bremen.

Peter Seyfferth, from TheYachtPhoto.com, said: 'During the three days of trials, Azzam reached an amazing top speed of 31.5 knots, making her not only the longest but also by far the fastest megayacht in the world.
AZZAM'S VITAL STATISTICS
Cost: £400million

Length: 590ft

Speed: Over 30 knots - it hit 31.5 in trials

Horsepower: 94,000
'Such a speed is absolutely exceptional for a yacht of this size.

'Her elegant, sleek lines are another feature which distinguish Azzam from all the other yachts above 150 metres.'

Mubarak Saad al Ahbabi was the engineer behind the megayacht, and assembled a team to work on the ultra-sophisticated project.

He was told by the yacht's secret buyer to build a vessel which was innovative and had a timeless design which would be able to travel at high speed and in shallow waters.

The exterior design, which has been described as 'surprisingly slender' was carried out by Nauta Yachts, with interior designer Christophe Leoni working on Azzam's inside.

Azzam is expected to be delivered to its owner later this year.