Maritime 'toys' on sale

There is huge local and foreign interest in the first big auction of luxury yachts and other pleasure boats planned for February or March next year in Cape Town. According to Ariella Kuper, the Alliance Group's head of business development, two groups are currently active in this market. On the one hand there are many well-to-do owners of luxury yachts or pleasure boats who are hedging their bets because of the recession, and would rather sell their craft until the economic climate is more favourable.

On the other hand there are the super-rich that simply want to get rid of their current maritime "toys" in order to acquire even bigger and better ones. They are prepared to cough-up between R2.5m and R80m for the pleasure.

Boats have so far usually been auctioned on an ad hoc basis, as the market has lacked a formal auction structure specialising in maritime auctions of vessels that include pleasure boats and commercial vessels. The Alliance Group and the well-known maritime brokers David Abromowitz & Partners have therefore decided to combine their respective specialist skills.

For instance, the Alliance Group earlier this year auctioned a private yacht for R4.1m and sold a diamond-mining vessel to Russia for $4m (about R31.6m). To gain international exposure, an agreement was entered into with Bootveiling, one of the largest online maritime auction companies in Europe, based in The Netherlands. International buyers are able to take virtual tours of the vessels before the auction.

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