MARKET SURVEY
Larger yachts are still a big trend.
> Superyachts Inclusion of Enormous Yachts
The 2013 Global Order Book reveals an interesting trend in the superyacht world during the ongoing economic crisis; larger yachts are still a big trend and continued their rise from last year (except for open-style yachts). This confirms a year of highlights for most yards, especially for pedigree yards and those building yachts over 40 m and custom builds. Even though 36 fewer yachts are listed as ‘under construction’, the world map has remained largely the same. Italy is still in the lead with 272 projects this year, the Netherlands remains in second place with an increase in the total length of vessels under construction from 3,074 to 3,561 m and five more projects than last year, Taiwan beats Germany in the race for the sixth place and the United Arab Emirates takes ninth. According to the Global Order Book, the future continues to lean towards fully custom yachts, where historically sound yards are recording new orders. Northern European yards in particular show notable examples; Feadship announced 13 yachts in build and Lürssen launched the 147m Topaz.
Big, Bigger, Biggest
The rank of projects over 100 m are no less than fourteen, which is a new record for the superyacht industry. An interesting detail is the fact that three of those large projects are sailing yachts. The statistics illustrate the growth, with 186 orders over 46 m this year, versus 179 orders in 2012 and 39 orders over 76 m versus 27 last year. The increase of more than 40 percent has led to yards now building the next flagship in their range. Lürssen is leading the way by building its 180m Azzam; Feadship with its 102m motor yacht; Nobiskrug’s 147m sailing yacht; Oceanco with its 108m sailing yacht; Vitters with a 85m sailing yacht and Benetti’s 90m motor yacht.
Smaller yachts are less fortunate and continue to suffer from the crisis. The Global Order Book shows only 119 projects this year between 24 and 27 m, compared to 178 last year. Italy in particular suffered, losing 45 hulls this year. In this size class, all yards exhibited thinner order books; the large number of competitors and secondhand yachts ruining the small yacht market. This means the secondhand brokerage market performed above expectations with 262 sales. Builders that had small orders at the beginning of the crisis also continued to grow, especially mid-range yards reported good activity this year.
Optimistic Prospects
Many projects are listed as ‘on hold’ for the delivery date, which means the owners or yards have come under financial difficulty to sell the unfinished yacht on the brokerage market. This makes refit work an important revenue stream for shipyards and this sector will continue to grow with yards such as Lürssen, Feadship and Royal Huisman now having a specialised refit team. According to the Global Order Book we can stay optimistic for the future as the number of yachts over 40 m continues to rise. The American market is beginning to spend their assets again as are Asia, Brazil and Russia; all resulting in the largest superyacht production since the beginning of the crisis.
i. www.boatinternational.com/global-order-book i. www.boskalis.com i. www.braemarplc.com i. www.clarksons.com i. www.statoil.com i. www.petrobras.com i. www.iea.org i. www.norskoljeoggass.no i. www.petrobras.com i. www.moorestephens.co.uk
8 | Ma r i t i me S e r v i c e s D irec tor y 2014
Market Survey MSD 2014.indd 8
21-10-13 09:04