A year after his death, a yacht commissioned by the Apple cofounder Steve Jobs has been seen for the first time, complete with seven 27in iMacs serving as the ship's instrument panel.

Jobs's yacht
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Called Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, the yacht was first mentioned in Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, released shortly after his death in late 2011.

Isaacson wrote, after seeing plans and drawings for the yacht, that it "was sleek and minimalist. The teak decks were perfectly flat and unblemished by any accoutrements.

"As at an Apple store, the cabin windows were large panes, almost floor to ceiling, and the main living area was designed to have walls of glass that were forty feet long and ten feet high."

Estimated to be 80 metres long, the boat was constructed at the Dutch custom yacht builders Feadship, where it was spotted last week. Images of the vessel were sent to Dutch Apple blog One More Thing, where they have received so much traffic over the weekend that the website is currently down.

Jobs yacht

Jobs told Isaacson while the yacht was being constructed: "I know that it's possible I will die and leave Laurene [Jobs's wife] with a half-built boat. But I have to keep going on it. If I don't, it's an admission that I'm about to die."

According to One More Thing, the ship builders were each given an iPod shuffle and the ship's name inscribed on the back, along with a note thanking them for the work.

Finished in aluminium, the boat's hull closely resembles that of recent Apple products, such as the MacBook Pro, and the interior is believed to have been designed by Philippe Starck, who revealed in April that he was working on a "revolutionary" project for Apple.

The Frenchman quickly corrected himself, adding that he was working on a "private project" for the Jobs family.

When the yacht will make its first journey is not yet known, nor has the price been disclosed.