Style Fades, Craftsmanship Doesn’t: Choosing the Right Shipyard

More Than Just Steel and Style

Feadship have a famous tagline; ‘there are yachts, and then there are Feadships’. Although there are a few competing shipyards which would consider themselves equals or perhaps superior operators to Feadship, this quote highlights the importance of brand recognition, quality and prestige that comes with shipyard individualism.  

So, what makes a shipyard unique, and how important is picking the right one for a client? 

Like the car industry, some brands are known for their style, others their build quality, others their customer service and aftercare offering, others importantly, their price.

Naturally, most clients won’t know from the outset of their search the major differences between shipyards so therefore, the importance of choosing between them seems more arbitrary and likely comes down to a pricing and aesthetic decision rather than that of quality, resale value or warranty. 

The less you know, the less important knowing seems. And what matters in this industry is quite often invisible.

The shipyard choice should be the bedrock of your yacht ownership and is the foundation that everything else is built on (literally and figuratively!). 

The Core Decision: Custom vs. Production

The first fork in the road when choosing a superyacht is to pick a production, custom or semi-custom yacht. Naturally, the larger the yacht the more customisable it is going to be. As the price increases, so does the ability to choose your own hull design and create something truly one-of-a-kind from scratch. 

Production yachts are prevalent in the smaller size categories (<45m) but can go up to around 60m depending on shipyard. Shipyards will often collaborate with independent exterior designers to launch a new-range of production boats. 

Fully custom boats usually start around the 40m mark, especially one-offs from new or experiential shipyards, but really take shape in the 60m+ category. 

Production yachts can afford to be cheaper due to the pre-established manufacturing processes, R&D and engineering systems. We tend to see a few less ‘teething’ issues for these yachts as they are tried and tested on the water with many hull iterations and lots of information from cruising models being relayed back to the shipyard. 

The choice on whether you choose a production or custom yacht will largely come down to your specific size and budget requirements. 

However, once you have your mind set on this aspect, the whole world of superyacht shipyards opens up - and this is where it becomes interesting.

Quality Lives (or Dies) at the Shipyard

As Feadship rightly state, not all yachts are built the same. Something that can look futuristic and ahead of its time on the outside may indeed be suffering on the quality.

The myriad of engineering issues possible is truly endless. I’ve seen everything from ballast issues while the yacht has a full fuel tank (boat listing to one side after a re-fuel) to undiagnosed washing machine leaks corroding the bi-metal strip (which moulded the steel hull to the aluminium superstructure). 

Quality lives or dies at the shipyard. When choosing a yard their history is just as important as the CEO’s business ethos – everything must be taken into account. 

How have they handled maintenance issues in the past? Are their outfitters in-house, or contractors? Are they a publicly listed company, or is it owned by the same family who founded it? Does the CEO know everything about the yacht, or are they focused on gaining investment? 

Standardisation

Superyacht construction is governed by a complex and international set of standards and regulations, depending on the yachts size, intended use, flag state and whether it’s built under a class society. 

Some of the major classification societies include Lloyd’s, BV, ABS, Rina, and DNV - but actually building under these societies is mostly voluntary (however expected by insurers, financiers and the resale market). 

There is a web of regulatory frameworks that the yacht should be following, which, to the untrained or inexperienced yacht owner, would be highly confusing. 

Therefore, assembling the right purchase and build team, including legal,  is paramount to your success. It truly takes a village. 

The Invisible Asset: Cluster of Talent

Talent networks are prevalent in any economy. San Francisco being the tech hub, London the finance capital and Reims the champagne monopoly. In yachting, we have a few centralised areas which after decades of premium building have developed an ecosystem of talent that supersedes rivals. Holland and Italy are the two prime examples of this. 

Italy is the world’s largest producer, building nearly 50% of all superyachts over 24m. It is home to the top volume builders like Azimut Benetti, Sanlorenzo, Ferretti and Rossinavi.

Visit Viareggio and Livorno in Northern Italy and it is clear how vast their manufacturing tentacles reach, with what feels like whole cities set-up to cater for the electricians, metal-workers, carpenters and outfitters needed to make these floating palaces. 

Netherlands and Germany hold the giants of Feadship, Lurssen, Amels, Oceanco and Heesen which dominate the 50m+ markets (and almost own the 80m+ category). 

However, there are newcomers. Turkey is now the second-largest yacht builder, with production growing around 9% a year and an ever-increasing quality and finish, arguably already competing with top European yards. Their government has brought in numerous policies to encourage shipbuilding including tax advantages and export credits.

With these economies being so localised in places that have built boats for hundreds of years, you can really feel the knowledge when you tour the yards and meet the craftsmen, who are likely second, third or fourth generation boat builders. It is this craftsmanship and dedication to the industry that is unlikely to be so prevalent in other countries, where a shipyard is new, in an area not previously prescribed to superyacht building. 

Lack of labour talent is the main reason there isn’t a more distinguished shipbuilding output across the world. 

House Style vs. Your Style

Do you have your own design ethos, or are you more of the choose out of a catalogue type? 

This makes a big difference in shipyard choice. The larger shipyards like Heesen, Feadship and Lurssen will release fully custom yachts, completely designed from scratch, however the boats will still have a general brand feel about them.

They reveal them from their sheds, and you can almost guess which yard built them by exterior design alone, which is a testament to their strict design principles. 

Other shipyards like the Italian Sea Group (Admiral) are more flexible. And are just as happy to launch a bright green, top-heavy (but beautiful), axe-bow like KENSHO, as they are to release an asymmetric, catamaran spaceship (but, beautiful!) like THIS IS IT. 

Some shipyards are going to be happy to bend to the client and designers’ direction – others are going to be a little more hesitant. 

It is therefore important to work with a consultant or broker which can easily align your vision and goals with a builders’ DNA. This will save you time, money and headaches. 

Outfitting: Who’s Really Doing the Work?

Something else to think about when choosing a yard, especially so on the fully-custom side of shipbuilding is the contracting, especially outfitting. This is a highly specialised trade: where the bones of the yacht are decorated, carpentry and flooring are assembled, and the yacht is brought to life. 

Some shipyards have in-house teams that do this; other shipyards use the same contracting company for every launch; other shipyards tender each project to several companies. It is important for the client to know who is doing this work. Are they full-time staff members? Is this the first project the contractor is doing for the yard? What other yacht projects have they completed? 

Aftercare is Everything

Something rarely thought of when purchasing a yacht is the aftercare associated with each brand. Not all shipyards are made equal when it comes to warranty works or maintenance.

Some, strangely, will want to wash their hands of the yacht once it hits the water, others welcome the new owner into their family and have a constant dialogue and relationship. 

Aftercare matters. It can be expensive if not gotten right. It must be factored into your decision making. 

Marketing, Branding & Resale Value

It is well known that marketing actively alters people’s subconscious perspective of a brand. Colour choices, fonts, music – it all matters.

Some shipyards either don’t believe this matters, or don’t care enough to put any effort into making their yard a brand. 

This likely stems from the fact that lots of shipyards used to build commercial ships, where they would advertise to corporate entities – so a four slide PowerPoint with Times New Roman font could sell a tanker to Maersk. The world’s elite private clients however, shopping for their lifetime achievement award, not quite the same process. 

Prestige matters, branding and marketing matters. Two yachts released from two different yards with the exact same specifications aren’t going to be asking for the same purchase price. And so they shouldn’t. 

We are starting to see some beautiful campaigns (especially from those stylish Italians) which not only will increase initial demand but ultimately slow the depreciation of a used yacht by proxy – further attracting a potential owner to invest. 

Riva does this amazingly, the brand transcends yachting and people think nothing of purchasing an older model. 

Other yards, however? Forget about it. Some shipyards don’t even have a workable website. Try and convince a client to invest in a 10-year-old yacht from a shipyard that doesn’t have a video of their stock… difficult. 

What It All Means for the buyer

Ultimately, it pays to care. Factors like warranty, quality, aftercare and region will be influencing the price of the vessel. Therefore, lots of owners will be compromising on factors that are less important to reduce the overall cost. 

However, additional cost will be repaid on the backend, where general maintenance will be reduced, a warranty extended, depreciation slowed and resale demand heightened.  

The greater the budget the less compromises you’ll make, naturally. But to analyse the pros and cons of each compromise, as well as the profile of each shipyard, and potentially exterior & interior designers – it makes sense to have someone in your team with the contacts and experience to smooth the process.

If your yacht broker cannot tell you the average yearly depreciation by shipyard, choose a different consultant. 

Buy the Builder, Not Just the Boat

Shipyards aren’t just vendors and manufacturers; they are partners in your yachting journey. You are guaranteed to have more communication with them than you'd think, and their attitude to everything matters. 

If you’re unsure which yard fits your specific goals, get in touch. It’s a decision that could save (or cost) you millions. 

josh@charterandchase.com