Oceania Marine at Monaco Yacht Show 2011

Authored by Martin Gleeson, Managing Director of Oceania Marine on a visit to Europe September 2011.

This year I arrived in the South of France in time to catch the end of the Cannes Yacht Show then stayed on for all of the Monaco Yacht Show. My aim was to get an overview of the superyacht industry on a worldwide basis and to establish international networks for Oceania Marine in the areas of superyacht construction and refit.

Monaco Yacht Show 2011

As I write this it is my first day back in New Zealand at the shipyard and the feedback that I am seeing from the yacht show is one of optimism. Based on what I actually heard and saw, what that optimism is based on is very hard for me to determine but I guess the two things which are the main contributors would be:

• A gradual recovery in second hand yacht sales (albeit at much reduced prices) and
• The extraordinary continuation of new build orders at the larger and very large end of the market

Therefore the optimism being generated is most likely coming from the sectors benefiting most from the above factors. I suspect that elsewhere the mood would be subdued and in some cases downright depressed.

One other interesting recurring theme was the stated intention by many I spoke to of giving more attention to commercial vessels in an attempt to bring back or establish some diversification in their businesses. The added advantage of doing this is that this invariably increases a marine businesses knowledge and capacity in dealing with larger vessels particularly when dealing with code compliance and class.

A point of interest – To have a spell from the yacht show my wife convinced me to go to the Musée Océanographique de Monaco located high overlooking the harbour and coastline. The aquarium was stunning as well as the views and I recommend a visit although I would give the restaurant a miss. While I was up there I took some snapshots of the yacht show, harbour and coastline. Very interesting to see the now familiar fleet of superyachts anchored offshore in the hope of finding a buyer. Follow this link to view:   flickr Photos – Set ‘Monaco Yacht Show 2011’