October 28, 2012: More than a year after Steve Jobs’ death, the luxury yacht he commissioned is finally shown off for the first time, launched from a shipyard in North Holland.

Called Venus, the distinctive-looking yacht was one of the big personal projects Jobs pursued in his last years of life. As he told biographer Walter Isaacson, “I have to keep going on it. If I don’t, it’s an admission that I’m about to die.”

Sadly, he never lived to see the finished vessel.

Steve Jobs’ yacht was the product of six years of design and construction work. Despite Jobs’ vast fortune, many who knew him personally registered surprised that such a project would appeal to him. “There’s no yacht in my future,” he told journalist John Markoff in 1980.

As Jobs told Walter Isaacson, however, the yacht represented something: a confidence that he would be able to overcome his health troubles. He began working on it around 2008, shortly prior to his liver transplant.

Steve Jobs’ yacht design

The $118 million, 256-foot yacht proved somewhat divisive in terms of its design. Although it is the work of renowned French designer Philippe Starck, it bears Jobs’ and Apple’s fingerprints. Jobs recruited the chief designer of the Apple stores to create a special glass for the vessel. While on board, the Venus could be controlled via a row of 27-inch iMacs.

“As expected, the planned yacht was sleek and minimalist,” Isaacson writes. “The teak decks were perfectly flat and unblemished by any accoutrements. As at an Apple store, the cabin windows were large panes, almost floor to ceiling, and the main living area was designed to have walls of glass that were forty feet long and ten feet high.”

The October 28, 2012, launch of the yacht was attended by Jobs’ widow, Laurene, and his children, who have used it in the years since. Before that could happen, however, the ship suffered another setback when it was impounded in an Amsterdam port due to an outstanding payment owed to designer Starck.

If you’re interested, you can keep tabs on Venus‘ location around the world using data from ShipSpotting.com.