A multi-million pound exhibition of Russian yachts is set to open in Hamburg at the end of this year.

The travelling attraction, which will visit Copenhagen, the USA and then London in 2003, depicts the evolution of the Russian imperial navy.

Designed by Sarner on behalf of Eagle Crown Productions, who have the rights to the collection, Treasures from the Tsars Imperial Yachts includes more than 400 original artefacts and jewellery.

Visitors enter through the deck of an imperial yacht, and proceed through reconstructions of living quarters complete with scale models, sound and smells.

'The ships were literally floating palaces,' said Sarner co-director Ross Magri. 'The exhibition shows all aspects of what it was like on board these amazing vessels for sailors, working shipman and the Royal family.'