The baroque interior of "Black Pearl" (107 m) or the linear interiors of "Alfa Nero" (82 m) have very different appearances, but all showcase fine craftsmanship made in Austria. A subsidiary of the F/List Group from Thomasberg plays a key role in Oceanco's projects. While F/List specialises in aircraft and residences, F/Yachting manages five floating projects a year, and its total portfolio has grown to more than 100 since the 1990s. Today, around 1,250 employees work at a total of ten locations in Europe, the USA and the Middle East.
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In picturesque Thomasberg, the River Pitten flows through the middle of the site, and the company has been based here in Lower Austria, 80 kilometres or just under an hour's drive south of Vienna, since 1989. Today, the production area covers 41,100 square metres. In the centre of it all is a generously glazed canteen overlooking the small river, whose position and architecture would grace any trade magazine. Katharina List-Nagl, the granddaughter of the company founder of the same name, runs the business here and speaks openly about the background to the reorganisation: "We weren't doing well in 2004, so we got to work and developed new concepts and materials for the interior fittings." Obviously with success - interior fittings for yachts and aeroplanes took off.
F/Yachting is not just a manufacturing company
In 2024, they rolled out the F/LAB, a showroom plus workshop and test lab. At the same time, they positioned themselves on the market with the newly founded subsidiary F/Yachting, transforming themselves from a subcontractor to an equal partner that works directly with Feadship, Oceanco and Lürssen or carries out refits for owners. F/Yachting was a logical continuation of an idea "to break new ground in the future of yachting", says List-Nagl. The company has been working with major outfitters for more than 20 years, and today they also take on development, design support and project management, taking care of production and installation through to acceptance. They also utilise production facilities close to the water, for example in Florida. The aim, as List-Nagl puts it, is "a 361-degree approach to realise the customer's design dreams".
The F/LAB, which works together with start-ups and universities, is home to 35 colleagues - a multidisciplinary team of engineers, designers and technicians who test new materials, experiment with AI and robotics and incorporate customer requirements. It's about continuing to learn, improve and create completely new designs. "We are not just a manufacturing company," says List-Nagl, "these innovations set us apart from the competition."
The goal is a fully sustainable interior, including adhesives, lacquers and decorative details. It is about far more than robust protective coatings for veneers that extend the refit cycle, or woods that are fire-resistant after special treatment and are therefore classified for ships and aeroplanes. As an example of innovative materials, List-Nagl mentions crushed eggshells or shredded apricot kernels, which are used to create robust and decorative surfaces. During a tour of the exhibition areas, she also points out samples of materials made from banana leaves or mother-of-pearl. This material is supplied by a company that manufactures buttons and has to deal with up to one tonne of "waste" per year.
Innovative fabrics with carbon as a benchmark
On another table is a wafer-thin leather made from corn starch. The "F/LAB Whisper Leather" is so named because it leaves virtually no trace in the environment. Next to it is "F/LAB Aenigma", which imitates the metallic sheen of manta rays and won the Red Dot Design Award in 2023. "The ingredients are largely sourced from Europe," explains List-Nagl. At the core of the new fabrics is cork or layers of sugar cane. The benchmark, we learn, is nothing less than carbon.
A few metres further on are convertible composite fibres whose pattern changes completely depending on the incidence of light, and intelligent surfaces with invisibly integrated sensors that function as light switches. There is also an armrest that recognises when someone places a smartphone on it, forms a hollow and automatically charges the device. An accessory that looks equally good in private jets and on yachts.
Uske Berndt
Editor News & Panorama
