The 92m-long, six-level Mayan Queen IV is reportedly owned owned by Mexican billionaire Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez (80), chairman of Mexico's second-largest mining company, Industrias Penoles, the leading Latin American producer of refined gold, lead and zinc and the world's top producer of silver.
Mr Bailleres Gonzalez is ranked No66 on Forbes magazine's March 2011 list of the world's richest people, with a net worth of US$11.9 billion.
Crew members would not comment yesterday on who was on board or why the vessel had come to Dunedin.
The Mayan Queen IV was one of several superyachts that drew large crowds while berthed at Silo Park in Auckland during the Rugby World Cup.
The New Zealand Herald reported last year the yacht would be in Auckland until early this year for maintenance.
Ship spotters gathered harbourside as the yacht berthed at the T/U Sheds in Dunedin about 9am yesterday, having sailed from Fiordland, where it had spent several days before the weather deteriorated. It is scheduled to leave tomorrow.
Because of the yacht's size and the characteristics of the harbour, the yacht needed a Port of Otago pilot on board to enter and leave the harbour, Port of Otago chief pilot Hugh Marshall said.
He did not know if it was the biggest superyacht to have visited Dunedin, but it was certainly one of the largest.
It was scheduled to berth at Birch St, but a source said the yacht's crew preferred to berth at the T/U sheds.
Crew members said the wind had made the voyage to Dunedin "quite bumpy".
The Mayan Queen IV was built in Germany, launched in 2008, and can sleep 16 guests and 24 crew. The ship was designed by British superyacht designer Tim Heywood, and is listed as the 34th biggest yacht in the world by website superyachts.com.
Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich owns the world's largest superyacht, Eclipse, which is 164m long.
