Some unions are meant to be, and when Floating Life was introduced to Dockwise Yacht Transport (DYT) a year and a half ago, it became clear, almost immediately, that this match between two corporate dynamos would be one made in heaven. In the case of transporting Floating Life’s three 131’ (41 meter) Norman Foster-designed motor yachts (motor yacht Ocean Emerald, yacht Ocean Pearl and MY Ocean Sapphire) back and forth between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, there is no other yacht transport company with which Floating Life would rather involve itself than DYT.
Motor yacht Ocean Emerald on Dockwise Yacht Transport DYT’s SS4 - Photo Credit Jonathan Zier
Three 131’ (41 meter) Norman Foster-designed motor yachts depend on Dockwise Yacht Transport for their voyages between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, where they are used by 24 families in Floating Life’s fractional ownership program. Shown is MY Ocean Emerald on standby and then safely secured aboard Dockwise Yacht Transport’s Super Servant 4 in Martinique. – Photo Credit Jonathan Zier
Floating Life, with offices in Switzerland, Italy, Monaco and Shanghai, offers comprehensive management and technical services to an international clientele of yacht owners, and in so doing it demands the highest degree of professional competence from its own employees as well as any outside entity that becomes involved with the company’s coordination of countless technical, administrative and logistical details.
According to Floating Life President Barbara Tambani, the reasons go far beyond Dockwise Yacht Transport’s unique ability to safely “float” yachts on and off of their own giant semi-submersible yacht carriers. “When you offer a service, you have to be competent at what you are doing,” she said, with a nod to DYT’s gloved-hand approach and devotion to details. “In our particular case, losing 20 days of time because something went wrong creates many more problems than you might expect.”
Tambani explained that yacht Ocean Emerald, MY Ocean Pearl and superyacht Ocean Sapphire are the basis of Floating Life’s unique fractional ownership program, by which 24 families – eight per boat – have owner access to the yachts for a certain number of days a year. “The reality is that it is not often that yacht owners have an opportunity to use their boats more than 30 days a year, 45 max: typically several weekends and then maybe a month extended vacation somewhere. With fractional ownership, they can choose their dates on the calendar, the running costs are split between families, and basically a 40 meter yacht is enjoyed for the same cost as running a 20 meter yacht.”
Superyacht Ocean Emerald on standby to load on to Dockwise Yacht Transport DYT’s SS4 - Photo Credit Jonathan Zier
Greece, Sardinia and the South of France will be the three locations where Floating Life owners can enjoy time aboard their yachts this summer. Toward that end, both Ocean Emerald and Ocean Pearl completed a voyage in March from Martinique to Toulon aboard DYT’s Super Servant 4.
“It is a complex way of managing, but it is working very well,” said Tambani. “The mission of Floating Life is to enable yacht owners to enjoy their yachting safely and reliably, and with Dockwise as our partner, we are always confident in our plans with this program.”
Dockwise owns a total of four yacht carriers, including the 686-foot (209 meter) super ship Yacht Express, and operates on a regular schedule to deliver yachts around the world. The ships, looking something like giant moving marinas when they come to town, use their unique loading method to allow yachts of any size to be safely floated on and off as cargo. The carriers submerge themselves by pumping nine million gallons of water into their ballast tanks; the vessels are floated into place one-by-one, then sea-fastened before the ship pumps dry to prepare for boat transport. Once the ship reaches its final destination, the process is reversed so the yachts can safely disembark with captains, owners and/or crews aboard to take them by their own power to new adventures. DYT also orchestrates lift-on/lift-off arrangements with third-party carriers for clients wanting a more flexible shipping schedule or to explore destinations where the float-on/float-off ships are not scheduled to go.
Motor yacht Ocean Emerald, M/Y Ocean Pearl and superyacht Ocean Sapphire are also available for luxury yacht charters. Contact the CharterWorld team here for more info.
More about DYT
Dockwise Yacht Transport (DYT), headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, specializes in the maritime transport of private luxury yachts and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dockwise Ltd., a Bermuda incorporated company that is the leading marine contractor providing total transport services to the offshore, onshore and yachting industries as well as installation services of extremely heavy offshore platforms.
DYT’s global yacht transport routes for its semi-submersibles include the U.S. East Coast (Newport, Rhode Island and Port Everglades, Florida), the Mediterranean (Toulon, France; Genoa and Taranto, Italy; Marmaris, Turkey; Palma de Mallorca, Spain), the Bahamas (Freeport), the Caribbean (St. Thomas and Martinique), the Pacific West Coast (Golfito, Costa Rica; La Paz and Ensenada, Mexico; and Vancouver, B.C., Canada) and the South Pacific (Papeete, Tahiti; Auckland, New Zealand; and Brisbane, Australia).
With additional lift-on, lift-off offerings, DYT has serviced the following ports: Dubai (UAE), Genoa (Italy), Jacksonville (Florida), Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Singapore, and Southampton (UK). Scheduled for April-May, 2011 is a trip from Singapore and Phuket (Thailand) to Genoa, with a return trip from Genoa to Phuket in November, 2011. Also in May, DYT is offering a voyage from Antwerp (Belgium) or Rotterdam and the North Adriatic to Brisbane (Australia) and Wellington (New Zealand), in time for the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2011 and Rugby World Cup 2011.
Since its maiden voyage in 1987, the company has transported over 11,000 motor and sailing yachts to various destinations around the globe, offering owners and charterers safe and easy access to many of the world’s premier cruising grounds. Along with area representatives around the globe, DYT has additional operating offices in Italy, Martinique and Newport (R.I.).
