Two luxury yachts, which were about to be shipped to China for the eventual use of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, have been impounded by Italian police in Viareggio.

The yachts are valued at €13m, Ibinews (International Boat Industry) reports.

Italy’s financial police, along with help from Austrian authorities, traced the yachts under a sting called Operation Flybridge.

Asia-Pacific Boating celebrates 33 years of being on the water in Asia with a special edition for September-October.

In the coming issue, the editors and staff will offer a retrospective of some of their favourite destination photos in Asia.

Regular columnists will also be writing in with their views on how luxury yachting and yacht racing have evolved over the last three-and-a-third decades.

Ferretti Yachts will introduce at the Festival de la Plaisance of Cannes 2009 the new Ferretti 560, which represents the “yachts (r)evolution” conceived to experience a new feeling of life on board.

Through this new model the shipyard aims to consolidate and continue the evolution process of flying bridge range under 63 feet.

This renewal in the last two years involved the launch of new yachts that became “icons” of innovation in design, like Ferretti 470, Ferretti 510 and Ferretti 592.

Remember the solar powered Dubai Sea Limousine (an eco-friendly mode of transportation to and from the islands of The World)?

Raising the bar further, Dennis Ingemansson has designed the Solar Gem superyacht that shows the trend toward the eco-friendly yachts of the future.

Not only is it made of recyclable material, but it also has a hybrid electric system which is fueled by solar and wind energy.

Britain sent the decommissioned QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) to the Gulf as a floating hotel. Now Dubai is to return the favour, building the world’s biggest yacht to be anchored beside the Thames as a floating hotel.

The Aquiva is expected to be the world’s largest pleasure boat.

It will enable hotel guests to obtain a flavour of the mega-yacht lifestyle when it is moored amid what today is a semi-derelict London landscape of warehouses and building sites.

The Infintas yacht is the second design launch of Schöpfer Yachts and is just as impressive as its first one, the Oculus Superyacht.

The new 300-foot (91.5 meter) Infintas superyacht has been designed by E. Kevin Schopfer with Sparkman Stephens, Naval Architects.

While the Oculus was inspired by an oceanic fish, the Infintas draws inspiration from the infinity symbol, which is highlighted within the yacht’s elevation.