Mr and Mrs Ernesto Bertarelli earlier this year became the proud owners of Vava II, a 96-metre-long (314’11”) vessel with a £100 million price tag and acclaimed as the largest private motor yacht ever to have been constructed in Britain.
The spectacular six-deck Vava II, the 33rd largest in the world, was built in Plymouth by Devonport Yachts – now called Pendennis Plus – and boasts luxury interiors, a swimming pool, a helipad, lavish guest cabins and four boats to ferry passengers to shore. It faces an amazing cost of £250,000 to fill with fuel and each of its four tenders cost £1 million to build in Sweden.
Indeed a superyacht to a super couple. Swiss-Italian pharmaceuticals chief Ernesto Bertarelli, 45, is a twice winner of the prestigious America’s Cup yacht race and is worth a reputed £6.8 billion, making him the 81st richest man in the world and the fifth richest in the UK whilst Mrs Kirsty Bertarelli, a former Miss UK, is currently ranked the UK’s richest woman.
It is being rumoured that the luxurious superyacht will be available for charter to ‘well-heeled’ clients while it is not being used by its super wealthy owners. Definitely hiring such a lavish yacht will cost in the multiple hundreds of thousands of euro per week and undoubtedly, if chartered, Vava II is bound to set new standards in the rental market.
On leaving Pendennis Plus construction yard, Vava II crossed the Atlantic on her way to St Maarten where her owners had their inaugural trip onboard to enjoy the closing stage of the Caribbean season. The boat is expected to return to the Mediterranean for the summer, and who knows, it might include a Malta stopover on its exciting Middle Sea cruising expedition.
Certainly a pleasant positive opening story! A story related to an industry that although associated with richness and lavishness is said to have been experiencing the bitter pinch of the prevailing global economic situation.
Reports on the luxury and mega yacht manufacturing industry tend to defer. Some are most sceptical by proclaiming that ‘The global order book is emptying’ (source Superyacht Report). Others are more convinced “that a recovery that began in 2011 will lead into growth through 2017. In the five years leading to 2012, the industry’s revenue declined at an average annual rate of 8.6%. The decline was largely attributable to a significant downturn in 2008 and 2009. In the five years leading to 2017, industry revenue is projected to continue increasing at an average annual rate of 6.9%” (source IBISWorld market report).
What is the reality of the international superyacht industry today and is the recovery symptom truly visible on the horizon?
Douglas Sharp, Managing Director of Sharp Yacht Design, a custom and production total yacht design services concern, and an active International Superyacht Society Advisory Board Member comments:
“The international superyacht industry was subjected to a perfect storm of three factors working in conjunction to cause it to head into recession: Overheated growth in the period 2004 to 2008, general global economic downturn and expanded political rhetoric targeting the wealthy and their discretionary spending in comparison to governmental needs for increasing revenue.
Growth expanded beyond market support, but the superyacht industry has started the internal recovery process as it has condensed and concentrated the power to deliver products and services within the most recognisable and strongest elements extant prior to the crash.
The general condition of the global economy has temporarily affected the discretionary financial mobility of the industry’s clientele. However, at the same time, cash is being preserved and will be available for large yacht projects when the economic/political environment eases. This will contribute to a quickening of any industry recovery under way, but will not initiate that recovery.
There is a glimmer of hope that the political pendulum will swing back to a more conservative approach to governing that will allow the private sectors of the world’s major and minor economies to operate more freely. And then recovery for the superyacht industry will truly begin in earnest.”
In such a scenario, how was the local yachting industry, which relates to superyachts, affected and what are the prospects?
An observation on the situation was made by Dr Stanley Portelli, Chief Executive Officer of Transport Malta.
“Albeit not completely immune to the negative impact suffered elsewhere, the superyacht industry in Malta has managed to endure three years of worldwide economic crisis reasonably well.
To a large extent, the crisis has led owners to become more sensitive to their spending and sought better value. Hence, Malta’s competitive offerings became a more attractive proposition.
Meanwhile, the local industry has also been going through a major transformation after privatisation of the state-owned marinas and yacht yards. This has opened up opportunities for investment and resulted in a much more dynamic industry.
As an authority we have had very encouraging results. We have recently reached an important number of 300 registrations of superyachts larger than 24 m. This represents approximately 5% of the world superyacht fleet and gives us the necessary motivation to continue to pursue our target of becoming a leading jurisdiction for the registration of private and commercial superyachts.
Towards the future we should look with optimistic caution. Malta has the right location, infrastructure, legal platform and expertise and subject to the right attitude – from all the stakeholders including other public entities and authorities – we cannot fail!”