Yacht Transport Company Adds 15 New Routes
The Dutch firm, Dockwise Yacht Transport, has published its 2002 schedule with 15 new semi-submersible delivery routes. The company operates the worlds largest heavy transport fleet, with 12 specialized semi-submersible heavy transport vessels, three of which–Super Servant 3, Super Servant 4 and Dock Express 11–are dedicated yacht carriers capable of carrying boats up to about 121 feet in length.
This year the company expects to deliver 600 boats. The new routes for 2002 are Cherbourg–Toulon in February, Lazaro Cardenas–San Diego in March, San Diego–Vancouver in March, Palma–Bremen/Bremen–Cherbourg/Cherbourg–Palma in June, Port Everglades–Panama in June/July, Palma–Newport in July, Barcelona–Port Everglades in July, Newport–Sardinia in July/August, Vancouver–San Diego in August, Palma and Port Everglades to Auckland in December, Auckland–Papeete in December, and Auckland–Vancouver in December/January.
Dockwises technique for trans-world yacht delivery involves the crew sinking the ship to flood the carrying deck so the boats can be brought on board under their own power. Cradle and position assigned each owner is required to supply precise details of the hull and appendages to enable a precise cradle to be assigned in a precise position for each boat. With the boats guided into their cradles by divers, ballast is pumped out and the ship rises to its design waterline. The cradles are then welded to the carriers decks for the voyage.
Masts and rigging stay in place and the owner or crew can stay on board the boat during the delivery voyage, which costs around US$250 per foot. The procedure is reversed on arrival. The entire loading and unloading operation can take up to 12 hours. For more information log on to Dockwise Transports website at www.yacht-transport.com.
