The Abeking & Rasmussen gap

Amore Mio II and EXCELLENCE share a builder but diverge in volume, flag, and home port. The comparison reveals how the origins of their owners’ wealth dictated the engineering priorities of their vessels.

Abeking & Rasmussen delivered Amore Mio II in 1997 and EXCELLENCE in 2019. Both are motor yachts constructed at the yard’s Lemwerder facility in Germany. The twenty-two-year interval between the two deliveries captures a period of accelerated growth in the custom superyacht market, measured most clearly in gross tonnage rather than overall length. Amore Mio II measures 52.0 metres with a beam of 10.65 metres and registers 887 gross tons. EXCELLENCE extends to 79.95 metres with a beam of 14.45 metres and carries 2115 gross tons. The length increased by roughly fifty per cent, but the internal volume more than doubled. This mathematical divergence indicates a structural shift in how the vessels were intended to be occupied. The earlier hull was designed for efficient coastal navigation and short-term cruising. The later hull was engineered for extended ocean passages and higher occupant capacity.

The capital behind the steel

The specifications of each hull reflect the economic engines that funded them. Amore Mio II belongs to Evangelos Marinakis, a Greek businessman whose wealth derives from shipping, media, and football. Marinakis entered the shipping industry in 2005 by founding Capital Maritime & Trading Corp, building on a family background that includes his father, Miltiadis Marinakis, a shipowner and politician from Crete. He acquired a majority stake in the Greek football club Olympiacos in 2010. His capital formation is tied to maritime logistics and regional political influence, which aligns with the compact, agile profile of a 52-metre vessel operating out of the Eastern Mediterranean. Marinakis also repurchased Greek national debt in 2012 and entered the media sector with Alter Ego Media S.A. in 2016, consolidating assets that require a mobile, low-draught platform for discreet movement between European financial centres.

EXCELLENCE is owned by Herbert G. Chambers, an American billionaire who accumulated his fortune through retail distribution and automotive sales. Chambers dropped out of high school, served as a United States Navy aviation electrician, and founded a copier distribution company called A-Copy America. The copier business was changing from a leasing model to a sales model due to the arrival of low-cost machines from Minolta, Canon, and Sharp. Chambers adapted quickly, growing A-Copy America into the world's largest Minolta and Canon dealer with 1,400 employees across 36 offices before selling it to Alco Standard Corporation in 1983 for $80 million. He then purchased an Oldsmobile-Cadillac dealership in Connecticut in 1985, launching The Herb Chambers Companies, which grew to sixty dealerships across Massachusetts. His wealth originates from North American consumer retail and vehicle logistics. This background correlates with the larger, more autonomous profile of an 80-metre yacht capable of independent transatlantic operations. Chambers funds major institutional projects, including a $100 million donation to Massachusetts General Hospital in December 2024, signalling a capital base that demands a vessel with the range and stability to operate far from domestic repair facilities.

Flags and home ports

The operational geography of the two yachts further separates their design philosophies. Amore Mio II flies the Maltese flag and lists Valletta as its home port. AIS data places her at 37.93° N, 23.68° E in the Piraeus Area, reflecting Marinakis’s base in Greece and his frequent presence in the Aegean and Ionian seas. The vessel functions as a regional platform, optimized for the sheltered waters and established marinas of the Mediterranean basin. Its beam of 10.65 metres allows access to smaller harbour infrastructure common throughout the Greek island chain.

EXCELLENCE operates under the Cayman Islands flag and maintains The Creek in Greenwich, Connecticut, as its home port. Her last recorded position sits at 44.2° N, -69.05° W on the US East Coast. The choice of a Cayman Islands registry provides offshore neutrality and streamlined commercial administration, standard for large American-owned vessels operating internationally. The Creek serves as a dedicated private marina and maintenance facility, allowing the yacht to remain docked and fully serviced without relying on public harbours. This setup supports a usage model centred on long-range cruising along the Atlantic seaboard and seasonal transatlantic crossings, matching the scale of the hull and the operational habits of an owner who relies on a Bell 429 GlobalRanger helicopter for his weekly commute between Old Lyme, Connecticut, and his headquarters in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The geometry of occupancy

The ratio between length and beam explains much of the difference in interior volume. Amore Mio II carries a beam-to-length ratio of 0.205, while EXCELLENCE measures 0.181. The newer hull is proportionally narrower, a design choice that reduces wetted surface Area and improves fuel economy at displacement speeds. This efficiency gain is necessary because EXCELLENCE carries 2115 gross tons of internal space compared to Amore Mio II's 887 tons. The additional volume requires more powerful propulsion systems and larger fuel reserves, which in turn dictates a deeper draught and a wider beam than would be necessary for a pure coastal cruiser. The 14.45-metre beam of EXCELLENCE provides the stability required for extended open-ocean transit, whereas the 10.65-metre beam of Amore Mio II prioritises manoeuvrability in confined anchorages.

The gross tonnage figures reflect the physical scale of the vessels. EXCELLENCE's estimated value stands at $150,000,000, a figure that accounts for the twenty-two years of technological advancement between the two builds. The later hull incorporates modern navigation systems, improved acoustic insulation, and contemporary interior layouts that were either unavailable or prohibitively expensive in 1997. These upgrades increase the baseline cost of construction and maintenance, aligning with the operational budgets of owners who manage large-scale retail and automotive enterprises.

This expansion of internal space correlates directly with the owners' distinct approaches to asset management. Marinakis's wealth is concentrated in shipping, media, and football clubs including Olympiacos, Nottingham Forest, and Rio Ave. His corporate structure relies on tight control over regional logistics and media outlets, which favours a vessel that can operate quietly within established European frameworks. The Maltese flag facilitates this regional mobility, offering EU compliance without the administrative overhead of other registries. Marinakis was elected as a municipal councillor of Piraeus in 2014 and re-elected in 2019, embedding his operations firmly within local Greek governance structures.

Chambers's wealth stems from a highly distributed network of sixty car dealerships and a previous global copier distribution empire. His business model depends on scale, geographic spread, and standardized operations across multiple states. The Cayman Islands flag suits this approach by providing a neutral jurisdiction that simplifies international chartering and crew employment. The Creek in Connecticut acts as the central node for this dispersed portfolio, just as the Maltese registry acts as the administrative hub for Marinakis's Mediterranean operations. Chambers holds an honorary doctorate in business administration from the University of New Haven, awarded in 2016, recognising the commercial scale of his enterprise.