Transporting Multihulls by cargo ship - Focus on Sevenstar Yacht Transport

Transporting yachts by cargo ship is something that’s grown considerably over the last ten years. The desire to deliver brand new multihulls to their owners all over the world has encouraged builders to transport their boats by ship. Charter companies are also finding a way to quickly move an entire fleet from one base to another using these transport vessels. At a time when trips to a destination can suddenly grind to a halt due to Covid-19, this looks like a formula for safe and quick movement of a multihull that could be useful. We were keen to find out a bit more about this form of yacht delivery. Transporting yachts by cargo ship is something that’s grown considerably over the last ten years. The desire to deliver brand new multihulls to their owners all over the world has encouraged builders to transport their boats by ship. Charter companies are also finding a way to quickly move an entire fleet from one base to another using these transport vessels. At a time when trips to a destination can suddenly grind to a halt due to Covid-19, this looks like a formula for safe and quick movement of a multihull that could be useful. We were keen to find out a bit more about this form of yacht delivery.

Matthieu Le Bihan and Elodie Le Blevenec, managers of the Sevenstar Yacht Transport agency in La Rochelle, France.

Multihulls World: Who are the owners of all these catamarans? When did the owners start using your services?

Elodie Le Blevenec and Matthieu Le Bihan (SYT): We mainly transport boats for shipyards and yachting professionals, though some private individuals do also use our services. Today, for example, we’re loading two owners’ yachts out of the fifteen or so units going on the ship. We mainly work with companies, but we’ll also look at any requests from individuals concerning the transport of their boat. From our La Rochelle hub to the West Indies, we estimate that 80% of the boats we transport come from dealers or brokers specialized in the market. The individuals who contact us are more interested in returning their yachts to Europe from distant destinations. For example, they have done a semi-circumnavigation of the world, stop in Polynesia, and want their yachts to return to their respective home ports in Europe. For Atlantic crossings, private individuals don’t generally tend to use our services.

MW: Are your skills in yacht transport called upon for use in other sectors?

SYT: Yes, absolutely. We are even sometimes solicited by countries. Last year, for example, we transported military patrol craft on behalf of the French government on an outward journey to the West Indies. We also work with ocean racing teams - we regularly bring back sailboats from transatlantic races. During the last Vendée Globe, one of our company’s subsidiaries took charge of the IMOCA Arkéa-Paperec from South Africa for a return trip to France. The same goes for the Japanese Kojiro’s 60-foot boat after its arrival in Les ...