HANSA 10-2020

Schifffahrt | Shipping
Superyacht industry
accepts pandemic
The superyacht industry is changing and grieving
simultaneously. Many are still in the »denial« and
»anger« phases of grief – concerning the collapse of the
market as we knew it – now entering the »bargaining«
stage of the Kübler-Ross model. By Nick Jeffery
Cancellation, one by one, of the
MYBA charter show, Superyacht
Show and Monaco Grand Prix in
May, DNV GL’s Superyacht Seminar
at the Yacht Club de Monaco in June,
the majority of superyacht charters in
July and August, followed by Cannes
and Monaco Yacht Shows in September,
and METS already cancelled for
November, has kept hitting just when
people hoped it was all soon going to
be »back to normal«. Early on during
lockdown, online zoom webinars
and presentations allowed some
sort of social interaction, while positive
industry »players« kept reminding
us we must all remain strong and
upbeat.
It felt like a self-support group
with plenty of mutual back-patting
as well as providing the opportunity
for self-promotion in the comments
box »Hello from Monaco! I’m very
impressed with your statement and
would now like to plug my own company…«.
After a few weekly events, with SuperYacht
Times’ webinars peeking
with over 800 attendees, zoom webinars
fizzled out, possibly the sponsorship
and rehearsed sound-bite
promotion becoming too much. But
they had helped some transcend into
and even beyond grief’s »depression«
stage, while allowing a glimpse inside
leading superyacht builders’ and brokers’
home offices.
Halving Market
Jonathan Beckett, Chief Executive of
Burgess, stated during lockdown that
it could be two years before the charter
market is back to pre-pandemic
days. Some superyachts, that typically
enjoyed 10-12 weeks of summer
charter, have had zero bookings this
summer, seriously impacting the viability
of charter revenues covering the
cost of running a yacht.
Jamie Edmiston, Chief Executive of
Edmiston, summed up, »Yacht charter
went quiet for a period of time at
the height of the pandemic but over
the last six weeks or so (mid-July to
late August) we have seen significant
uptick in demand for people who
want to get away in a secure environment
with their families«.
Price reductions are ubiquitous
in both sales and charter. Nick Hill,
Partner of Hill Robinson, a large independent
yacht management company
who booked 80 weeks of charter
in 2019, noted that one in ten
owners positively opted out early in
the 2020 season to offer their yachts.
Hill Robinson implemented significant
procedures aboard its fleet encouraging
– but not enforcing – cli-
Heesen has its largest-ever, 60 m long
steel displacement yacht currently
in build, on target for launch in 2021
© Heesen
22 HANSA – International Maritime Journal 10 | 2020