Yacht Transport

Yacht transport is the shipping of a yacht to a destination instead of sailing or motoring it. Yacht transport is an alternative to the traditional passaging (sailing or motoring) to reach desireddestinations around the globe. Transport when compared to passaging (sailing or motoring) is cost effective, safer and improves availability.

For many dedicated sailors, passaging (sailing or motoring) or an ocean crossing is a "a rite of passage” but it comes with many risks and expenses. For many serious cruisers, financial, business and family considerations argue against the long term full time dedication that ocean crossings require. Yacht transport becomes an alternative when the destination is more important than the passaging (sailing or motoring).

Yacht transport generally, eliminates costly, time consuming, and dangerous difficult ocean crossings, opening up cruising to more people. Container cruising, one approach to yacht transport is significantly less expensive and has greater flexibility with respect to timing and destinations. The drawback to container cruising is that there are a limited number of yachts that have the necessary 7.5 ft. beam to fit in the 8 ft wide standard container.

The methods for transport are:

Semi-submersible Ships (SSS): Semi-submersible ships were developed to move large (project) cargoes, but have now been adapted for yacht shipping. These ships are semi-submersible. This means that by ballasting, they can submerge their cargo holds. To load, yachts under their own power motor into the flooded cargo holds. Once all the yachts are in position and secured, divers weld hull supports into place. The ship deballasts and sails away. At discharge port arrival, the process is reversed with the ship ballasting, allowing the yachts to exit. Semi-submersible shipping is arranged by the owners.

Deck Cargo:

Yachts can be shipped as deck cargo. Yachts are loaded directly from the water or from shore. Yachts are loaded by ship or by shore cranes in cradles either supplied by the carrier or the owner. For conventional deck cargo shipping, the rigging is left intact. Yachts are also transported by container ships. Because container freight is sold on the basis of total enclosed volume, efforts are made to decrease that volume, including derigging the boat. Deck cargo shipping is normally arranged directly with the shipping lines or with brokers who specialize in yacht deck cargo shipping.

Container Shipment:

If a yacht meets the restrictions imposed by container sizing, typically 39 ft. (11.9 m.) x 7.5 ft. (2.3 m.) x 9.3 ft (2.8 m.), container shipping is an alternative. Container shipping is arranged through freight forwarders.

Costs for Yacht Shipment

“Freight only” costs vary from as little as USD 3500 (2008) for container shipment to USD 50,000 (2008) or more for the other methods. Deck cargo and Semi-Submersible costs are a factor of yacht volume and distance shipped. Current typical costs for forty foot sailing yachts from the US East Coast to the Caribbean run at about USD 20,000 (2008). Additional costs include the cost of preparation, cradles, documentation, and customs and other government fees. Container shipment costs are almost independent of distance shipped and depend more on imbalances in container locations.

Scheduling

The Semi-submersible ships travel on fixed schedules over popular routes such as to and from the US, Europe, the Caribbean, and Pacific Ocean destinations.

While in theory, deck cargoes can be arranged between any two ports and at any time, costs are reduced if a number of yachts are shipped together. Because most ships are non-US Flag carriers, they are forbidden by law to transport cargoes between US ports. To comply with the law, they will load or discharge in Canada, the Bahamas or Mexico. Container shipping offers complete flexibility with respect to ports and timing.

Security

The locked and sealed container provides the best overall security. The semi-submersible ships because they are dedicated to yacht transport also offer a secure environment. In addition to theft an other potential problem is losses at sea partial or total. Probability of losses is low, reflected by the lower cost of insurance.

The increasing cost of fuel, the convenience, and the abilityto go anywhere make yacht transport an attractivealternative.

Links:

Semi-Submerisable-http://www.yacht-transport.com

Deck Cargo-http://www.sevenstar.nl/ Deck Cargo-http://www.yachtpath.com/

Container Yachts-http://www.containeryachts.com/

Web sites with more information about yacht transport and containercruising include:

Deck Cargo-http://www.sevenstar.nl/

Submerisable-http://www.yacht-transport.com/

Deck Cargo-http://www.yachtpath.com/

All Types-http://www.petersandmay.com/da/13138

Container Cruising-http://www.containeryachts.com/