AUSTRALIAN SUPERYACHTS | CASE STUDY

125 Metre Expedition Yacht

A 125 metre expedition yacht, three Australian visits, and a New Year’s Eve mooring that failed

Facts

Vessel	Private expedition yacht of about 125 m, name withheld, carrying a helicopter and submersible, with up to 52 crew
Client since	2009
Australian visits	2012, 2013 and New Year’s Eve 2014 to 2015
Ports	Cairns, Thursday Island, Darwin, Sydney, Lord Howe Island
ASY role	Australian port agent: clearances, berths, pilots, fuel, logistics, provisioning, crew and guest services

The problems we solved

A diversion five days out

The problem: In February 2013 the yacht was inbound to Hobart. ASY had the arrival prepared: primary agent with a local sub-agent, crew list corrected, quarantine pre-arrival lodged and clearance at anchor approved. Five days out, the captain wrote: “We have been diverted to Cairns.”
What we did: ASY rebuilt the whole arrival on the other side of the country in days. Customs paperwork was moved, quarantine was refiled, every shipment in transit was re-addressed, and pre-funding was capped so the yacht carried no extra cost for the change.
The result: The yacht arrived in Cairns with everything in place, as if Cairns had been the plan all
along.

The buoy that failed on New Year’s Eve eve

The problem: We had won the yacht the Point Piper Buoy, Sydney Harbour’s premium mooring, for New Year’s Eve 2014, with a late bid for a 125 metre yacht on a buoy tendered for 90 metres. She picked it up on 30 December. Within hours the mooring failed: a shackle pin had come undone on the seabed.
What we did: The yacht’s bridge team caught it early. We worked with the captain and the Harbour Master to have her safely anchored on three anchors, obtained approval for her to stay at anchor for the celebrations, and recovered the mooring fee.
The result: The yacht spent New Year’s Eve safely at anchor with her guests, and the client received a full refund for the buoy.