Visitors to Belfast’s docks and Titanic Quarter may have been struck by the sight of a superyacht cruising up the Lagan this week.
The Scout is a 63 metre vessel valued at around $85 million (£67m), and has been popping up all around the island of Ireland in recent days.
It arrived in Belfast Lough on Wednesday and raised eyebrows as it sailed into Belfast Lough and docked next to the Odyssey.
The vessel has also been spotted in Cork and Dublin, just days after US Walmart heiress, Nancy Walton Laurie’s $300m superyacht took a similar tour up the east coast of the island.
The boat belongs to James Berwind, a member of the US-based family-owned Berwind Corporation.
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A member of the fifth generation of Berwinds involved in the business, the 59-year-old Florida resident is estimated to be worth around $500m.
His yacht, reportedly named after his dog, is estimated to cost between $5m and $8m per year to run.
The yacht was built by Hakvoort Shipyards in the Netherlands in 2018, with interior and exterior design work carried out by H2 Yacht Design in London.
The Berwind business, which dates back to 1886, was built on coal in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Almost 140 years on, the Berwind Corporation spans a multitude of business interests from pharmaceuticals and chemicals to plastics and resource management.
It also owns the TASI Group, which controls two dozen businesses worldwide, including Dundonald’s Sepha.
Set up in 1980, Sepha specialise in non-destructive leak test solutions, laboratory scale packaging solutions and deblistering machines for recovery of high value product.
It’s unclear whether James Berwind’s Irish coastal tour included a stop off in Dundonald.
It's understood the millionaire is currently on holiday in Ireland. His vessel remained moored in Belfast on Thursday evening.
Outside his business interests, the Florida resident’s interests include animal welfare and social causes.
