Lorenzo Benetti established this famous shipyard, one of the oldest in the world, in 1873. He started out building wooden boats that were used for local and international trade. Gino and Emilio Benetti took over the boatyard after the death of their father, Lorenzo. They changed the name of the company to Fratelli Benetti and developed a reputation that extended beyond the Mediterranean.
The disappearance of wooden commercial sailing vessels after the Second World War brought about a change in Benetti's direction and they began building out of steel. In the early 1960's, Benetti took the leap from boatyard to shipyard by producing its first luxury superyacht.
From 1980 onwards, the fleet of the shipyard has included mega yachts in the 30 and 60 m range, as well as larger superyachts.
In 1985, renowned Turin-based boat builder Azimut Yacht acquired the boatyard, transforming it into the modern and technologically advanced shipyard we know today.
"This year will not only be the 140th anniversary of Benetti, it will be also the 10th anniversary of the acquisition of the Livorno Shipyard bought from the Orlando family. We plan a dense calendar of events culminating next June in Portofino with a very exclusive week-end together with our clients from all over the world. Owners that does not come to us to buy a readymade yacht, but to construct one together with us in order to fully express their personality and live a genuine rapport with the sea. Clients who approach us with ideas and expectations that are a challenge and a continuous stimulus and when we meet their brief and make every detail perfect with no concessions to compromise, their success becomes ours. This level of quality and passion are the only route to our next 140 years of success", commented Ing Vincenzo Poerio – Benetti's Ceo.
In its 140 years of history, Benetti has built close to 300 boats, has over 300,000 sq m of production facilities at six shipyards in Italy and currently has 34 superyachts under construction including a 90 m mega yacht. These figures only confirm the Azimut Benetti Group's place as the largest builder in the world for custom superyachts.
