Mega-yachting is the world most fantastic luxury hobby. Among the luxury asset purchases, luxury vessels stand out with a budget and amount of manufacturing effort. Besides the production, you cover running costs, which are, in most cases, exceed USD 1M/yr.
The super-yacht definition applies to vessels with a hull exceeding 130 feet, operated by full-time crew and owned for pleasure or commercial endeavour. Currently, there are more than 10 000 super-yachts on this planet, with more than 150 new mega-yachts delivered every year. The most iconic is probably mega yacht A, owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, designed by Philippe Starck with Martin Francis. Among other amazing vessels “Azzam” owned by the UAE president, “Eclipse” which belongs to Roman Abramovich, and “Dubai” – the property of Mohammed ibn Rashid al Maktum are worth mentioning. “Eclipse” is even called “giga-yacht” for her outstanding specs. There are no two vessels in this class that are the same, so running costs vary significantly.
As the owner, you have to be prepared to pay about ten per-cent of the purchase price every year to keep your marine operation running. This will be spent on fuel, dockage fees, crew allowance, maintenance and repair, not to forget insurance fees. For a $10M worth vessel, you may expect annual dockage fees of USD 350 000 (which of course vary around the world), and insurance will cost you around USD 230 000. If your yacht is equipped with helipads and anti-aircraft missile defence system, expect higher insurance costs. Luxury Yachts Group has a handy operational costs calculator, so you can have rough estimation at hands when you think whether you can afford a super yacht or not.
Your operation will include mooring costs. These vary from USD 4000 per night up to USD 100 000 (Monaco 5-days stay during Grand Prix) depending from season and marina.
Your leisure facilities can also have operational costs footprint. You may limit your guests with water scooters but may well end with a mini-submarine, for which you shall have a completely different budget.
Finance
Specialized banks and marine lenders will finance the purchase of your dream vessel via leasing transaction or a marine mortgage. Like we wrote earlier, setting up a charter from your mega-yacht may yield attractive returns. There are also fractional ownership schemes available for a party of investors without the full capital coverage. Oracle Capital Group may help you to finance the purchase of the yacht with a solution tailored to your situation.
