Tech billionaire’s $240 million superyacht the Artefact spotted in New Zealand

The superyacht Artefact, owned by Canadian tech entrepreneur Mike Lazaridis, spotted in the Bay of Islands late last year. Photo / RNZ, Peter De Graaf

A $240 million superyacht owned by a tech billionaire has been spotted cruising through the Bay of Islands.

Locals living around Doubtless Bay, north of Russell, posted photos on social media saying they’d spotted the 80-metre Artefact paying their “little bay a visit”.

The superyacht is owned by Canadian Mike Lazaridis, best known for creating the BlackBerry smartphone, and has been in NZ waters since last year.

Its stops have included a two-week stay in Ōpua, near Russell, over Christmas 2023, and then a cruise to the South Island where it was spotted in the Marlborough Sounds in January this year.

The yacht is captained by Northland resident Aaron Clark, a Kiwi who grew up in the Auckland suburb of Beachlands, RNZ reports.

Built in Germany in 2020 at an estimated cost of $240m, it was named Motor Yacht of the Year in 2021.

The custom-built boat is designed to carry 12 passengers and 22 crew and has a range of about 6000 nautical miles or 11,000km, Clark told RNZ.

The boat’s most distinctive feature from the outside is its shape and use of glass.

Its 223 pieces of glass weigh 75 tonnes and cover an area of 760sqm, RNZ reports.

The crew includes two chefs and a sous chef and there is a tai chi room that has high ceilings so those practicing can wield a sword above their heads.

Artefact, designed to carry 12 passengers and 22 crew, berths at Ōpua wharf. Photo / RNZ, Peter De Graaf

The owner Lazaridis, 62, was born in Turkey to Greek parents, who moved to Canada when he was a child.

He has been described as the father of the modern smartphone.

At the age of 12 he won a prize for reading every science book in the library at Windsor, his hometown in Ontario, RNZ reports.

After founding BlackBerry he specialised in quantum computing and has donated large sums of money to theoretical physics research.

Even superyachts need to get Customs clearance. Photo / RNZ, Peter De Graaf

- with RNZ