Mark Zuckerberg — or whoever is traveling aboard his superyacht in Seattle this week — brought a Wingman.
While the Meta founder and CEO’s 387-foot yacht Launchpad is attracting attention with its travels through the Ballard Locks and into Lake Union, a 262-foot support vessel is docked several minutes away at the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91.
Wingman has been called a “floating garage for billionaires” and is designed to carry all the various toys one might need at sea and in port, from helicopters to smaller tender boats and other personal watercraft. An onboard crane is used to transfer heavy loads to the water.
The vessel is visible from the Magnolia Bridge and the Elliott Bay Trail that runs along the waterfront, docked at a pier normally used by giant cruise ships to pick up and drop off passengers. The headquarters of online travel giant Expedia is just across the water.
GeekWire checked with a guard at the entrance to the gated terminal who confirmed that Wingman arrived on Wednesday. Launchpad sailed into Seattle Tuesday afternoon. Both vessels are flying the Marshall Islands flag, a common registry for large yachts because of an “attractive tax framework,” according to Yacht Law Partners.
The white and black yacht easily blended into a facility that normally caters to such large vessels. Bikers and walkers using the trail exhibited none of the curiosity about Wingman that is drawing people to Lake Union to gawk at Launchpad.
It’s unclear why Launchpad and Wingman are in Seattle this week, but their presence has taken on a certain irony in light of layoffs that impacted nearly 1,400 regional Meta employees.
Passing through the locks, one crew member on Launchpad indicated the vessel wasn’t in town for the FIFA World Cup, and planned to “come and go.”
Formerly known as U-81, Wingman is reportedly a $100 million ship, and was built in 2022 by Dutch company Damen Yachtbuilding. According to Superyacht Fan, it can accommodate a crew of around 18 as well as eight guests across four cabins.
At last check this morning, both Wingman and Launchpad were still in their respective Seattle ports.
