Van der Valk and Phathom Preview 30m Project NEXO

Van der Valk Shipyard has previewed Concept Project NEXO, a new 30-metre superyacht concept developed with Dutch design studio Phathom. The Waalwijk yard is presenting the first look at the project during the 2026 Cannes Yachting Festival, ahead of a fuller reveal that the shipyard says will follow shortly.

The announcement is intentionally a preview rather than a complete specification release. Van der Valk has confirmed the yacht’s 30-metre length, the collaboration with Phathom and the project’s focus on space, comfort and life on board, but it has not yet published propulsion, speed, hull-form, accommodation or range figures.

A self-initiated brief

Project NEXO differs from the owner-led commissions that make up most of Van der Valk’s work because the shipyard and designer set the initial brief themselves. Van der Valk says the concept is intended to put forward a clear view of what a modern yacht at this size can be, rather than beginning with the requirements of a named client.

That distinction matters at a yard that describes fully custom construction as its core business. Van der Valk normally develops one-off yachts through close dialogue with owners, so NEXO gives the builder an opportunity to establish a starting point and then show prospective clients how its custom philosophy might be applied around the 30-metre mark.

The yard is careful not to position NEXO as a conventional production model in the material released so far. Instead, it calls the project a self-initiated concept and emphasises that the design is meant to express ideas about space, comfort and onboard living before the complete technical package is disclosed.

For buyers, that means the current announcement should be read as a design direction rather than a fixed specification sheet. Until Van der Valk publishes the full concept, details such as engine selection, maximum speed, fuel capacity, guest layout and crew arrangement remain unconfirmed.

Phathom joins the project

Van der Valk developed NEXO with Phathom, the Dutch design studio named by the shipyard as its partner on the concept. The collaboration places the design exercise within the same bespoke ecosystem that Van der Valk regularly uses when pairing its own engineering and construction expertise with independent exterior and interior specialists.

The yard has not yet assigned a detailed list of exterior, interior or naval-architecture credits beyond identifying Phathom as the cooperating design studio. That makes it premature to attribute individual styling or engineering elements, and the first official preview should therefore be treated as a broad project introduction rather than a final design-credit release.

What Van der Valk has said is that NEXO aims to explore how space, comfort and life on board come together. Those themes are deliberately qualitative at this stage, and the shipyard has not yet tied them to specific features such as fold-down terraces, beach clubs, glazing packages or convertible deck areas.

The lack of a detailed feature list is significant because concept announcements can easily acquire specifications that were never formally released. For Superyacht Guide, the safe reading is limited to the facts published by Van der Valk: 30 metres, a self-initiated brief with Phathom, and an emphasis on contemporary onboard living.

Why 30 metres fits Van der Valk

NEXO sits near the centre of Van der Valk’s stated custom-building range. The shipyard says it specialises in fully bespoke motor yachts between roughly 25 and 45 metres, a segment in which it offers owners the ability to develop one-off superstructures and interiors while drawing on proven engineering and naval-architecture experience.

Van der Valk’s official custom material describes the yard as structured around one-off builds rather than standardised serial models. It also notes that clients can work with an exterior design team of their choice while using established technical platforms where appropriate, an approach intended to balance individual styling with proven performance and stability.

That background helps explain why the yard would use a 30-metre concept as a conversation starter. The size is large enough to support the spatial and comfort ambitions associated with a superyacht, while remaining within a part of the market where Van der Valk has repeatedly built highly individual aluminium motor yachts.

NEXO is therefore more relevant as an expression of the yard’s design philosophy than as a finished off-the-shelf product. The project shows how Van der Valk can originate the first creative step itself, while still leaving room for the type of owner participation that the shipyard says remains central to its business.

Cannes provides the first public look

The 2026 Cannes Yachting Festival is the first public venue named by Van der Valk for Project NEXO. Visitors to the shipyard’s stand are being invited to see the concept before the full reveal, giving the yard an opportunity to introduce the project directly to owners, brokers and designers during one of the Mediterranean season’s largest yacht shows.

The timing also places NEXO alongside Van der Valk’s broader Cannes presence rather than isolating it as a purely digital design study. The yard is using the event to show current work and custom capability, making the NEXO preview part of a wider presentation of how it approaches bespoke yachts in this size range.

Van der Valk has not announced a build contract, hull number, construction start or delivery date for NEXO. Until one of those milestones is confirmed, the project should remain classified as a concept rather than an ordered or in-build yacht.

What comes next

The next meaningful milestone will be the full concept reveal promised by the shipyard. That release should establish whether NEXO develops into a defined technical platform with published dimensions, propulsion and accommodation, or remains a more flexible design proposition intended to evolve around a future owner.

For now, the significance of Project NEXO is that Van der Valk and Phathom have chosen to articulate their own 30-metre brief before a client brief is attached. It is a deliberately early-stage announcement, but one that gives the market a first indication of how the Dutch yard is thinking about space and onboard life in the centre of its custom superyacht range.