Yacht transport...

Sevenstar

I have found Sevenstar to be highly professional and provided excellent service when we shipped a 40 metre yacht to Asia last year. I would have no hesitation in recommending them. There are quite a few sharks out there and it pays to stick with the more reputable companies. It may cost a little more but it is better than finding yourself out of pocket for hundreds of thousands of dollars due to a deal gone bad. IMHO I would only deal with Dockwise or Sevenstar and forget all the other fakers.

There are definite advantages to the Dockwise system and if I had the luxury to choose I would have made that choice before all others but on our route we only had the choice of heavy lift ship.I would not recommend it if you have a bad heart as it is a frightening situation. Sevenstar did a thorough, professional job but there is always a chance of damage in the procedure of the lift. We got through unscathed but the other 45 metre did sustain damage more due to the difficult design of the hull and poor placement of the yachts bollards. Needless to say insurance is paramount. They are both Dutch based companies and they both are excellent in communication and customer relations.

As someone once said, "and now for the rest of the story."

Boskalis completes sale of Dockwise Yacht Transport activities - Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. - dredging, earthmoving, maritime infrastructure, innovation, oil and gas, ports, land reclamation, coastal protection

"Also the article on the sale mentions that they acquired two vessels. I thought there were more vessels."

There had been others. I remember Super Servant 3 from one loading. It appears to have taken back into heavy lift operations. Last destination reported was Bonney, Nigeria, 10-10-2013.

Interesting that United Yacht Transport adopted the name once used by the Dockwise arm that transported yachts on the Dockwise semi-submersible transports. Quite a few years ago, I received an email from Dockwise stating that they were renaming the UYT branch to Dockwise Yacht Transport because of some conformity issue with ISO 9000. Also interesting is that they're using photos of the Pac Athena on their site, which is a ship that Yachtpath chartered a few times and that I loaded boats onto. Maybe an old Yachtpath photo?
I've delivered several yachts to Yacht Path, Dockwise, and Sevenstar; most recently two yachts to Ensenada, MX in the last month to Sevenstar.
I've ridden aboard Dockwise from Nanaimo, Canada to Port Everglades, but never aboard Yachtpath or Sevenstar. In my experience, yacht shippers are subject to the vagaries of ship transport., such as weather and port berth availability, not to mention the financial dynamics of cargo maximization. On the DYT trip, the ship diverted to Long Beach, CA for an unscheduled cargo pick up. We stopped in the outer harbor in the middle of the night, sank the ship at the stern, and loaded a huge barge with a dredge on it that was going to the Bahamas. We also had to go 200 miles offshore before that to clear the ballast tanks. Then it was off to Golfito, Costa Rica to pick up 7 yachts that were scheduled. At both times, the two smaller yachts that were aboard with our 75' had to be floated and re secured. Our yacht was far enough forward and blocked high enough that we weren't affected. Also on that trip, the ship hove to and drifted for a full day in the Caribbean below Cuba to kill time pending berth arrangements. Even then, the ship anchored off Port Everglades for the night upon arrival until the berth became available.
On another DYT trip, the ship was late getting to St. Thomas, USVI from Port Everglades because the seas and winds forced the ship to slow down, forcing us to change hotels for the extra two days. At the same time several large yachts over 100' had to anchor and wait in the Bahamas for the weather to ease.
The yacht I just loaded on Sevenstar is going to Singapore from Ensenada, MX via Nanaimo, Canada, Vancouver, Canada, and Yokohama, Japan, and maybe more stops. That load was aboard a vessel named "Clipper Anne", which is owned by a large drybulk cargo shipping company operating "about 175" vessels. I saw no mention of Sevenstar on their site. Sevenstar states that they have access to their parent company's fleet, so it would seem that they charter outside of their company as well.
Generally, I've found that the Yachtpath and Sevenstar ships are late getting to port by a couple of days, but maybe that's more prevalent here on the West Coast, with distance, weather, and the Panama Canal operations affecting things. Sometimes they're early! One time I had a phone call telling me to be in Ensenada the next morning to offload, two days earlier than announced. On another occasion, I had to fly my crew to Oakland, CA. to pick up a 78' Azimuth that was shipped from the factory. It was scheduled to be offloaded in Los Angeles, but the floating crane operators were on strike, so the ship just kept going to the next scheduled port of call. That was just cargo, though, not a yacht transport.
The yacht shippers are very efficient at what they do. They own their cribbing, stands , slings, securing gear and use their own people to load. I saw the local Union Stevedores sitting and watching the Yachtpath guys loading and securing the yachts in New Orleans. They had to be there and had to be paid, but they had to stay out of the way. I believe that they use their own crane operators, as well. Confirmation, anyone? One aspect of shipping yachts is that it's your property and your problem. You must buy your own cargo insurance. If there is minor damage, the company may take care of the problem, but it's generally up to the Cargo Insurance. Even UPS and FedEx, to name just two, have a very limited responsibility for what they ship. I've heard that the laws governing cargo are as old as the Plimsole mark. I notice that the carriers don't go to great lengths to protect your cargo. I've seen fully shrink-wrapped boats on this last load as well as yachts with their canvas and isinglass up. How your vessel is prepared is up to you. Remember that these ships can travel at speeds up to 20 knots. A 25 knot headwind can send fabric flying at 45 knots apparent wind speed. Incidentally, the DYT ships provide much more cover and windbreak for the yachts then deck cargo shipping. When I deliver a yacht for transport, I attempt to conceal valuable portable goods like binoculars and small electronics, remove canvas and isinglass, pad and secure anything movable like artwork and loose furniture, secure things externally that can move like anchors or a sailboat boom, etc.
Generally, the shipper will have a list of people they have worked with at each port.

I used Yachpath from Ensenada up the coast to Victoria. My broker had a "friend" who was an indpendent broker for Yachtpath so it was not direct with them. The boat made it fine with no damage. However, the lack of information, constant schedule changes with last minute notice and mass last minute paperwork requirements was a huge hassle. If I ever do this again I will go direct to the shipper as i have heard that is a better appraoch.

Dishonest Yacht Transport Companies

From past experience and not off a favorable type, I would avoid any company that has any envolvement with the Cummings brothers. They are dishonest and play the bait and switch game. I caught them out lying while playing a role of pretending to be acting in our best wishes. My advise is with any yacht transport company is to NEVER ever pay a deposit or balance payment directly into their accounts but through an escrow account. It saves a huge amount of pain.

I was contacted only a few days ago by a yacht owner that got scammed by a ft Lauderdale based transport company. He got taken for $80,000, we got scammed for $137,000 by the same company a little over a year ago. Beware of Yacht Export otherwise trading as Global Relogistics or Ocean Trade Lines.

Yacht-path

I too had a bad experience with Yacht Path. Then along comes United-Yacht and I thought, "well here you go. Another shipper that might be able to assist me." Then, I heard that the Cummings were still involved. That settled it for me; I won't be going near U-Y!