Superyacht market: a Russian superyacht crisis?

It is said that Roman Abramovich has recently lost £12billion on the Russian stock exchange.

It comes just four days after details emerged of the £200million super-yacht project "Eclipse" Abramovich is having built - set to be the largest private yacht ever constructed.

Many superyachts belongs to Russian oligarchs:

• A: Mr Melnichenko
• Anastasia: Mr Potanin
• Ectasea: Mr Abramovich
• Grand Bleu: Mr Shvidler
• Ice:Mr Kerimov
• Pelorus: Mr Abramovich
• Sussuro: Mr Abramovich

What will be the effect of the recent Russian stock exchange downturn on the superyacht market?
Are the Russian billionaires going to sell their superyachts?


Source: Bloomberg

Superyacht regulation: the hull design protection act

Article from Boating Industry
Friday October 17, 2008

WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush has signed the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act Amendments of 2008 into law, providing boat manufacturers with increased protection from intellectual property violations that occur through “hull splashing,” the National Marine Manufacturers Association reported yesterday.

“The VHDPA Amendments recognize the great amount of time and money that goes into developing state-of-the-art vessels,” said National Marine Manufacturers Association president Thom Dammrich. “This new and improved VHDPA is a huge step forward in protecting the intellectual property of boat manufacturers.”

NMMA has been working diligently through three sessions of Congress over six years to strengthen and clarify the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act of 1998, which was the first industrial design protection statute of its kind. Because of the way a hull was defined in the original legislation and subsequent court opinions, enforcement had been curtailed because of the difficulty in proving infringement, NMMA said.

The VHDPA Amendments correct this technical issue, allowing boat manufacturers the full protection originally intended in the 1998 VHDPA.

For information on VHDPA, contact NMMA counsel Bryan Zumwalt at (202) 737-9764; bzumwalt@nmma.org.

Superyacht shipyard: Broward Marine to stop building yachts

The general economic slowdown and a dispute with a client have led to suspend activity at the Broward Marine shipyard.


A Broward 128Ft under construction at the shipyard

In June 2008, the 60-year-old megayacht builder in Dania Beach, Florida, let go of about 30 employees because of a dispute with the buyer of a partially built 128-foot yacht.

Superyacht business: a new fractional superyacht company

Rendering of the 33m catamaran

Curvelle is a new company which has just been launched and offers shared ownership of a superyacht...catamaran built in China by Cheoy Lee.

According to the company website "Curvelle luxury power catamarans are created with the twin pleasures of absolute comfort and unbeatable performance always in sight. Our yachts cruise equally well at speeds between 10 and 25 knots and, because of their highly efficient hull design, use far less engine power and fuel. And with about 50% more space to play with than a comparable monohull, a Curvelle is in a class of its own.

For one million Euros you become a Fractional owner of a brand new Curvelle 33x9 model and you can cruise for five weeks in the Med and Caribbean - every year."

Rendering of the 41 m catamaran

With their versatile layout, the six double cabins can be swiftly changed to three suites or a combination of twin cabins depending on the wishes of you and your guests.

At the same time, YachtPlus, formed in 2005 by a group of financial investors, announced that it will be launching its first 41m superyacht designed by Sir N. Foster, at the Monaco Yacht Show.

Fractional ownership is not a new idea and has proved to be a succesfull business especially with the sailboats.
Will the subprime crisis and the general slowdown of the economy boost the superyacht fractional ownership business?
Not sure...

>> http://www.curvelle.com
>> www.yachtplus.co.uk

Superyacht focus: Feadship F45 Vantage

The F45 "Harle" on display at the last MYS

Semi custom
After 2 years and over 5,000 hours of research and development and already 3 yachts delivered to their happy owners, Feadship is able to offer a proven semi-custom platform for their most demanding clients.

Note that only the hull, the exterior styling, the engine room, the crew quarters, the bulkheads, the garage and service areas are fixed.


F45 blue hull version

The Owner can choose the layout, the colour of the hull (the F45 "TV" comes with a lovely blue hull) and four interior design finishes (Miami, Monaco, Milano, Nautical) are available with different woods, stones, fabrics and colours.

On the other hand, if you choose the SL39, the other semi-custom serie built by Feadship, you will have more flexibility withe the design of the superstructure.

Layout
The F45 Vantage offers a lot of interior volume and exterior spaces spread on 4 decks.

Sundeck
The sundeck is the ideal place for relaxing with a large semi-circular sun beds and a jacuzzi located forward.

Bridge deck
Feadship designed the aft deck so that there is a visual unity between the protected aft deck and the bright lounge. The large panoramic windows on both side open providing an all fresco dining/relaxing area. The wheelhouse is very traditional and is designed to ensure a good visibility with her vertical windows.

Main deck
This deck is dedicated to the owner and his guests with 4 en suite staterooms plus a comfortable forward master stateroom.


The skylight in the master cabin

The owner’s suite has full height windows, 3.2 metre ceiling height, a skylight and a full-beam bathroom, thus offering a phenomenal interior volume for a yacht of this size as well as a magnificent view. On the F45 "Harle", one of the guest staterooms has been transformed in a comfortable study.

Lower deck
There is a large tender garage that can house a 7 meter tender plus a steamroom and a heads.
The area can be converted into a spacious gym and, when the swim platform is folded out, becomes an extra deck near the water level.

Located forward, the crew quarter comprises a Captain's cabin, an Enginer's cabin and two 3 crew cabins plus a laundry and a large galley with a separate crew mess.


New concept + traditional Dutch engineering

The Plus

• shorter delivery time
• significant cost saving over a comparable fully custom yacht
  
• less complex project than fully custom yacht because of the proven platform
• customisation possibility
  
• good resale value because of the Feadship pedigree
  

General Specification
Type: displacement yacht
Construction: semi custom
Material: steel hull, aluminium superstructure
Range: transatlantic
Length overall: 44.65m - 146' 6"
Beam overall: 9.2m - 30'2"
Draft: 2.7m - 8'10"
Fuel capacity: 40,000 l - 10,500 US Gal
Fresh water capacity: 10,000l - 2,600 US Gal
Main engines: 2 x MTU 16V2000M70 - 788kW/1,055 bhp each
Top speed: 14.5 knots
Range: 4,500 Nm at 10 knots
Design: De Voogt Naval Architects/Various architects (Sinot Design for Harle)
Classification: Lloyd's, MCA
Crew: 9
Sleeps 10/12 guests (depends on the layout)
Delivery: 3 Feadship F45 are currently under construction (September 2008)
Delivered F45 (September 2008): Space, Harle, TV

Contact us for more information

Superyacht project: focus on Mr Abramovitch's security

Copyright Le Nouvelliste.ch

Security?
The new 167m superyacht project "Eclipse" will come with bulletproof windows and a reinforced door and panels for the owner's cabin, a sophisticated missile detection system, two helipads, an escape submarine...

This yacht is currently under construction at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Germany.
Once the Eclipse is launched, she will become the world's largest privately owned vessel.

>> http://www.lenouvelliste.ch

Superyacht history: SS Delphine engine room pictures

This general view gives an idea of the scale of the starboard engine

We visited the engine room of SS Delphine, Horace Dodge' steam yacht, during the Monaco Yacht Show.

Accordig to the SS Delphine's website "SS Delphine is the only steam yacht of that size for charter. Due to only 80 to 100 RPM of the quadruples steam expansion engines there is no vibration of the engines. With this the 1920 ton vessel can go up to 10 knots."


The crankshaft with the long connecting rods

LOA: 257.8ft
Beam: 35.5ft
Draft: 14.6ft
Gross ton: 1961
Power: 2x quadruple steam expansion engines, each 1500HP
Maximum speed: 12 knots
Cruising speed: 8 to 9 knots
Cruising radius: 2000 miles
Fuel consumption: 600 litre per hour at cruising speed, 1000 litre a day for the generators.
Guests: 26. This is 22 in 11 double bed of which two are king-size VIP rooms and 4 in one cabin with bunk beds. All cabins have the same comfort and have fully equipped bathroom.
Crew: 24 in standard conditions maximum 30 on extra request.
Flag: Madeira, Portugal
Classification society: RINAVE, Portugal classed as passenger vessel less then 36 passengers
Certificate passenger vessel class C; navigation within 5 NM from coast up to 160 passengers
Ship has ISM and ISPS code implemented.
Navigation system equiped for A1+A2+A3 zone

The yacht is now for sale: the asking price is 49,000,000 euros.


the upper part of the engines

>> click here to charter SS Delphine

Superyacht Race: Maltese Falcon hit by a 40 foot sloop

click to enlarge - copyright Lyons Imaging

Lyons Imaging, a maritime photography agency run by Peter Lyon, just published on their website a picture of the Perini Maltese Falcon hit by a 40 foot sloop near Treasure Island.

Does the heavier vessel has the right-of-way...or is there a tonnage rule?

>> More pictures

Superyacht market Vs Jet Market

Wally steering wheel

According to investors, a mature market is a market that has reached a state of equilibrium marked by the absence of significant growth...or a lack of innovation.

Is the superyacht market a mature market?

For several years now, the yachting press have been reporting record sales & charter activity and stressed the lack of infrastructure as well as the lack of qualified crew.
Meanhwhile, the recent mergers & acquisitions between key players (brokerage companies and shipyards) signal a rising wave of consolidation in the superyacht market. Following the consolidation of the Italian market with key players like Ferretti Group and Azimut Benetti, L Capital acquired Princess yachts and LVMH recently purchased Royal Van Lent. In the Netherlands, the Heesen shipyard has also been sold to an international investment group.

At the same time, superyacht shipyards are growing like mushroom in Turkey and in China.

Will there be any benefit for the buyer/owner?
It is certainly to early to answer this question; however, we thought it could be a good idea to have a look at the jet market.

Founded in 1984 as an independent company, Central Business Jets is sought after by Fortune 500 companies to multi-national firms to individuals for its expertise in client representation of a business jet sale and/or acquisition.

Central Business Jets provides valuable information to educate their clients through their Jetcraft reprt: general market trend, aircraft operating cost, average fuel burnt per hour, Average Total Operating Costs Per Flight Hour...
You can download a sample valuation report here.

In spite of the facts that many superyachts are higly customized goods and that many yacht brokers are affected with paranoid syndrom, we believe that relevant information could drastically benefit to potential purchasers.

Superyacht picture of the day: Benetti Kingdom K5R

Click to enlarge

The superyacht Benetti "kingdom K5R", ex "Nabila" (named after Khashoggi 's daughter actress Nabila Khashoggi), ex "Trump Princess" gave shelter to a homemade offshore cruiser in the Antibes harbour.