One of the world’s leading builders of superyachts, Lürssen, has developed a new engineered hardwood which it claims could replace tropical teak in boatbuilding for the rich and famous. The new product, known as Tesumo, is now in full‑scale production and was first installed aboard the 142‑metre Dragonfly, a trial that Lürssen hopes will usher in a new era for timber sourcing.
Now, after nearly two decades of research and development, beginning in 2008 with the University of Göttingen, more than 50 timber species underwent rigorous testing. Some failed immediately, others broke down at sea, and a few absorbed resins inconsistently—a flaw revealed through detailed lab work. Through repeated setbacks and gradual progress, the team identified a species and process combination that met Lürssen’s requirements for durability and stability.
“The main driver back then was that teak sourcing was already starting to become a challenge after the first sanctions against Myanmar. We explored many materials already on the market, but we didn’t find anything that could match teak in performance. That’s when we started our own research,” Bernhard Urban, Lürssen’s head of development and innovation, who, speaking to Super Yacht News, described the process. The breakthrough, Urban said, came from a three‑step modification regimen rather than a single discovery.
“In the end, the most promising approach was a combination of three separate processes: a thermal treatment, an impregnation step, and a hardening process that fixes the resin within the wood. After that research phase, we conducted numerous tests. We installed small sample areas on various yachts, mostly on sun decks, to test their performance. We eventually found several promising options, but then we discovered that not all species responded equally well to the treatment,” he recalled. “For example, some specimens can be impregnated, others can’t, and you can’t tell from the outside. That made it feel like gambling. We had a test area that looked perfect, then the next one was really poor. There were a lot of hurdles like that.”
Frank Lüssen, who manages Lürssen’s design department, said the species that eventually proved suitable was not the obvious candidate. “It was the combination of the three processes that got us to Tesumo,” he told Super Yacht News. “Some of the outcomes were quite unexpected. The timber species we ended up with wasn’t even on our radar at first. Initially, we were looking at traditional boatbuilding timbers like Oregon pine. But as Bernhard said, one of the key steps is resin impregnation, and you want the resin to go into the wood on a cellular level, not just into the surface pores.”
“Mother Nature prevents that process in 95 per cent of timber species, so we had to find the ones that would allow it. And even then, it takes time for a material to prove itself. You’ve got weathering tests, but they’re never perfect: either too quick, too soft, or too aggressive. Because if and when you see cracks form, you need to know how bad they are, and that simply takes time,” Lüssen added.
After nearly a decade of trials and field exposure, Lürssen moved to full‑scale testing and then to commercial production in partnership with the University of Göttingen and Wolz Nautic. The venture bore Tesumo; maritime patent rights were secured by Lürssen, whilst the university retained the rights for non‑marine uses. Lürssen says the product is engineered to match teak’s underfoot feel and longevity while relying on more readily available temperate timbers and a controlled, repeatable production process.
“The production process itself is fully in place now, and it’s running smoothly. The next step is for Tesumo to lock in those supply routes and create a stable, ongoing process, making sure there’s enough timber available for consistent production,” a Lürssen spokesperson said, signalling the shift from material science to scale and sourcing. “That’s one of Tesumo’s main priorities — to set up those sourcing routes and provide the right timber,” Urban said. “The production process itself is fully in place now, and it’s running smoothly. The next step is for Tesumo to lock in those supply routes and create a stable, ongoing process, making sure there’s enough timber available for consistent production.”
It has some limitations.
Tesumo is a natural timber that requires care: crews must maintain the moisture content and cleanliness to prevent small weather cracks, and its mechanical properties differ from those of old-growth Burmese teak. It is slightly less elastic and cannot be bent around tight radii with the same ease, though it compensates with stronger, more predictable glue bonds because it does not contain teak’s oily resin. “In terms of mechanical properties, you need to make sure it’s kept clean and that it retains a certain moisture content. If it dries out too quickly, it can form small weather cracks on the surface. So, we’ll have to see how the crew manages that and whether they can keep it looking good aesthetically,” Lüssen said.
Testing exposes defects early. “Our experience from all the test set‑ups here in Bremen has been that if you’re going to have any failure, it usually happens in the first few months. Around 99 per cent of failures happen early on,” Urban said. That early detection informed pre‑launch repairs and adjustments before Dragonfly left the shipyard and underpins Lürssen’s cautious optimism as Tesumo moves into wider use.
Lürssen’s proof of concept came with the Dragonfly. The 142‑metre vessel entered service this season with a 300‑square‑metre Tesumo deck fitted to the helipad — an area deliberately exposed to sun, salt, and constant foot traffic. For owners, captains, and crews accustomed to teak’s colour, texture, and longevity, Tesumo represents both a technical and cultural shift; the yard has therefore rolled the product out cautiously, starting with trial sections and limited installations to build confidence.
Compared with plantation teak — which is softer, knottier, and less dense — Tesumo aims for consistency and predictability. Plantation timber requires decades of cultivation and careful branch management to produce boards suited to high‑end decking, whilst old‑growth Burmese teak is increasingly unavailable for environmental and legal reasons. Tesumo does not promise to outperform ancient teak, Urban said, but it offers a realistic and scalable alternative that sidesteps fragile supply chains and multi-decade planting cycles. “Perhaps the conversation isn’t about fixing teak, but about finding a realistic alternative that’s scalable, clean, and performs the way a yacht needs it to.”
Market acceptance is the final test.
Lürssen is extending trials beyond its own builds, with partners in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom working on projects and plans for a vessel with a 100 per cent Tesumo deck. “I remember the first presentation I made on sustainable technology was about 11 years ago,” Urban said. “Since then, that presentation has been updated every year. Many of our customers are open to hearing what we can do and how we can improve performance in terms of sustainable materials, energy consumption, and other key areas. And reaction from shows like Monaco and METSTRADE has been overwhelming.”
“If Tesumo can sustain performance across seasons and fleets, it may offer yachtbuilders a path away from tropical teak that answers rising sustainability concerns and supply‑chain disruption. For now, Lürssen’s gamble — years of research, painstaking testing and the willingness of at least one owner to trial the material at sea — is entering its most consequential phase: long‑term service in the elements, where the material will ultimately prove its worth,” a Lürssen engineer said. “I’m really proud to have been part of that process, and I hope, knock on wood, the future will be positive.”
Please note: Wood Central has used extracts from a Superyacht News article published on November 10, 2025. The article first appeared in The Superyacht Report – Owners Focus. With our open-source policy, it is available to all by following this link, so read and download the latest issue and any of our previous issues in our library.
