AO12 Safari
A sea and coastal boatFirst hull in build
The bigger safari boat, with an open deck or a full hardtop.
Available in and
Some of these are AI concept renders, not photographs of a real boat. The first AO12 Safari is being built right now and will be ready in spring 2027. See it on the jig.
- Passengers
- 12 or 20
- Length overall
- 11.99 m39.3 ft11.99 m39.3 ft
- Beam
- 3.19 m10.5 ft3.19 m10.5 ft
- Draft
- 0.6 m2 ft0.6 m2 ft
- Top speed
- 40 kn40 kn
The AO12 Safari is designed for open water. It is a twelve metre boat for coastal tours, sightseeing and passenger transfer, carrying twenty passengers across five bench rows, with twenty-two persons on board including the two crew.
Passengers sit forward of the helm, so nothing is between them and the water they came to see. The standard boat leaves the deck open to the sky, with cover over the helm console only. The other way to have it is a hardtop over the whole passenger deck, and that is the version fitted out for diving.
Engine options
| Power | Speed |
|---|---|
| 400 hp | 31 knots |
| 500 hp | 34 knots |
| 600 hp | 37 knots |
| 700 hp | 40 knots |
The boat can also be delivered without engines, rigged and ready for installation. Your own local dealer fits the motors of your choice and becomes your first call on engine warranty and service, which is worth having close to home.
What operators use it for
Water safaris and sightseeing, dolphin and whale watching, diving trips, island water-taxi routes, group and family excursions, and passenger transfer.
Specifications
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Length overall | Aluminium11.99 m39.3 ftHDPE11.99 m39.3 ft* |
| Beam | Aluminium3.19 m10.5 ftHDPE3.19 m10.5 ft* |
| Draft | Aluminium0.6 m2 ftHDPE0.6 m2 ft* |
| Total height | Aluminium3.55 m11.6 ftHDPE3.55 m11.6 ft* |
| Displacement, light (hull only, no engine) | Aluminium3,500 kg7,716 lbHDPE3,500 kg7,716 lb* |
| Payload | Aluminium2,500 kg5,512 lbHDPE2,500 kg5,512 lb* |
| Max weight, loaded | 6,000 kg13,228 lb |
| Hull material | AluminiumAluminiumHDPEHDPE |
| Hull thickness | Aluminium6 mm0.24 inHDPE6 mm0.24 in* |
| Capacity | |
| Passengers | 12 or 20 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Maximum persons on board | Aluminium22HDPE22* |
| Propulsion | |
| Engine options | AluminiumInboard diesel (Yanmar) or outboard (Suzuki, Mercury, Yamaha), 400 to 700 hpHDPEInboard diesel (Yanmar) or outboard (Suzuki, Mercury, Yamaha), 400 to 700 hp* |
| Fuel capacity | 500 l132 US gal |
| Maximum speed | Aluminium40 knHDPE40 kn* |
Indicative. No HDPE hull of this model has been drawn yet, so the figures marked are the aluminium boat's and are shown as a guide. Ask us before you specify or quote against them.
On the shop floor
The first AO12, on the jig
First hull in build
Aluminium plate, frames and the buoyancy compartments going in, photographed on the floor where the hull is being welded. We expect the first boat to be finished in spring 2027, and it is offered at a first-boat price. Everything else on this page is a drawing of the finished boat or an impression of one. This is the boat itself, earlier.
Two deck configurations
Open to the sky, or under a hardtop
The same boat is available with a hardtop over the whole passenger deck. In the diver fit-out the helm moves forward to the bow, which leaves the working deck clear behind it.
Open deck
The standard boat. A T-top over the helm console, and nothing over the passengers.
- Five bench rows forward of the console, open to the sky
- Soft-covered benches, four adults to a bench, twenty seated
- A centre walkway the length of the deck
- Tempered glass windshield ahead of the helm
Hard-Top (Diver)
A hardtop the length of the passenger deck, and a deck fitted out for diving.
- The helm moves forward to the bow, with the working deck behind it
- Hardtop the full length of the deck, over the passengers as well as the helm
- Cylinder racks down the centre of the deck
- Boarding ladder at the transom and a freshwater rinse shower
- Dive gear storage and a diving compressor, specified at order
Some of these are AI concept renders, not photographs of a real boat.
The AO12 Safari, in aluminium or HDPE
All our boats are offered in aluminium or HDPE. Aluminium is the material a working boat is normally built from, and nobody has to be talked into it. HDPE is the more affordable alternative, and it brings a longer list of benefits of its own. Both are built with experienced partners in Estonian shipbuilding, an industry with a long history here.
Aluminium
- Built to the CE standard and assessed by IMCI, an independent notified body.
- Durable.
- Minimal maintenance. Anodes in salt water, and the usual engine service.
- Traditional workboat material with known qualities.
HDPE
- Naturally buoyant, which counts when you are carrying passengers.
- Does not corrode. No anodes, no cathodic protection, no antifouling in fresh water.
- No paint to keep up, because the colour is the material itself, UV stable right through.
- Flexes on impact and returns to shape, dock after dock.
- Quiet, as it damps vibration.
- Craftsmanship makes an HDPE boat look unexpectedly good.
- Recyclable at the end of its life, so the hull goes back into use instead of into waste.
The AO12 Safari, at twelve or twenty
Every boat is delivered CE marked, and documented for either twelve or twenty passengers depending on what your country's rules allow. It is the same hull and the same build either way. Only the paperwork changes.
We have already read the rules in 31 countries. Tell us where you will operate and we will tell you which set of papers you need.
Ask about your countryWhat's included
Fitted to every AO12 Safari at the base price.
Options and configuration
Specified at order and quoted separately. This is not the whole list, so ask us about anything you need that is not on it.
The full record
