The second part of News Editor Conor Feasey’s report on the future of coatings in the refit sector, from issue 227 of  The Superyacht Report: Refit Focus. 

Paint is where expectations, regulation and practical reality collide most visibly. The pressures aren’t due to a single change – skilled labour has become harder to secure and more expensive, particularly at the level required for large, high-profile yachts. At the same time, finish expectations have continued to rise, with darker hull colours and “near-new-build standards” now commonplace, even though refit conditions remain defined by existing substrates, access constraints and fixed schedules.

Environmental regulation has added another layer, with a variety of requirements now shaping how paint projects are planned and executed. While generally accepted as manageable, their consequences become painfully apparent when outcomes are rejected: repeated sanding, extensive shrink-wrapping and weeks added to already complex refit timelines. Paint also rarely operates in isolation.

Taken together, these factors help explain why paint has become such a sensitive part of the refit equation. And how those pressures translate into day-to-day delivery is best understood through the captains of industry managing refits in practice.

Below are their responses to the first of five questions posed to them by Conor Feasey. Their responses to the remaining four questions will be published over the coming days.

Where do you see the biggest pressure on paint refit costs today – is it labour, materials, regulation or client expectation, or something else? how has that balance shifted in recent years and how do you expect it to change further?

Gianni Paladino, Commercial Director, Lusben
The main pressure on paint refit costs today is due to a mix of reasons. On one hand, we see the rising prices of materials, while on the other, the cost of skilled labour has increased even more sharply in recent years and is now the dominant element in the overall project expenditure. Added to this, owners’ expectations have changed dramatically. It’s increasingly rare for clients to accept standard finishes; most projects now demand a final aesthetic level of excellence that requires more time, greater expertise and highly refined application processes.

To meet these expectations, and to ensure durability over time, we often recommend higher-end coating cycles supported by professionally planned preparation procedures and carefully structured workflows designed to guarantee the best possible final result. They not only offer superior protection but, above all, ensure better long-term repairability, which has become an essential requirement in today’s market and inevitably influences the cost balance.

Looking ahead, we expect demand for tailored, owner-specific solutions to grow even further. Exclusive colours, custom shades and trademark hues will become increasingly common as owners seek deeper customisation. As this shift accelerates, the industry will likely see prices gradually levelling upward, reducing the wide variations that currently exist and establishing a more consistent market baseline.

Stefan Coronel, General Manager Huisfit, Royal Huisman
Next to the basis of having skilful craftsmen at work, two things are important to ascertain success. Firstly the agreement set of clear quality criteria and a well organised process of signing off by subject matter experts. To get to the desired result an accurately managed process of preparation, environmental control and obviously craftsmanship is key. It is important to realise that the biggest challenge on costs associated around the paint of refits is in the effects of any issue within the paint scope for other disciplines. Carpenters, engineers, riggers, outfitters – the progress of all the work may suffer serious effects when issues arise in the paint. 

To get to the desired result an accurately managed process of preparation, environmental
control and obviously craftsmanship is key. 

Remy Millott, CEO, GYG Ltd
Material costs have significantly increased over recent years, with shortages in raw materials and manufacturers obliged to change formulations to meet new environmental regulations, which is of course very positive but is another example of cost increases. Other sustainable decisions, such as avoiding painting works while the yacht is afloat or in marinas, will also have a cost impact in the future, as out-of-water hardstanding slots are more expensive than in-water berthing but are far more secure and efficient as the fleet size increases.

Kay Wrede, CEO and Creative Head, Wrede Consulting
The greatest cost pressure in paint refit projects today clearly comes from “labour”, closely followed by client expectations. While material prices have increased, they remain a smaller portion of total refit costs compared to labour hours. Skilled painters, supervisors and inspectors are increasingly scarce, and wages have risen accordingly.

At the same time, owner expectations regarding finish quality, colour consistency and longevity continue to increase – often to new-build standards – while refit realities (existing substrates, time pressure, access limitations) remain unchanged.

Compared to five or ten years ago, the balance has shifted decisively from material-driven costs to labour- and quality-driven costs, and this trend will continue.

Material prices remain a smaller portion of total refit costs compared to labour hours.

Txema Rubio, Commercial Director, MB92 Group
Energy costs have risen well above inflation in recent years, and new regulations combined with more sustainable working methods mean that ancillary services are far from negligible. There is also a second layer of associated costs, some optional, depending on whether you choose to be simply compliant or to go further. For example, a VOC filtration system that eliminates 97.5 per cent of emissions can cost three times more than a basic filter. Heating is another case in point: traditional fuel heaters remain far cheaper than using HVO or investing in more complex systems such as geothermal solutions.

Energy costs have risen well above inflation in recent years.

Manuel Di Tillio, Technical & Sales Director,  Amico & Co
I believe that there are two main factors that influence the costs of a painting project:

1. A widespread problem in this industry, as in almost all others, is the availability of skilled labour, especially for specific tasks that require a specific level of quality in an ultra-luxury sector such as ours.

2. The management of interferences that are becoming increasingly necessary to maximise the efficiency of a construction period.

Amico manages to remain competitive by combining a number of strategic factors, such as: specialised in-house or highly loyal labour (not only for painting); investing in facilities such as modular warehouses and telescopic covers for basins, pre-fitters with scaffolding and equipment, which minimise the impact of managing the interference generated by multiple processes; entrusting the management of this complex efficiency machine to a large team of project managers and department heads specialised in the various predominant sectors: engineering, paint, teak, and maintaining full control of internal shipyard logistics.

Alberto Perrone Da Zara, Director Sales Yacht Refit, Lürssen
Paint is, without fail, the item that creates the most arguments, because it is the most open to subjective interpretation. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of square metres of surface on yachts that are 100 metres long. And if you arrive by tender from 100 metres away, you often cannot distinguish whether a yacht is badly painted or perfectly faired. Despite that, the differences that are discussed are worth millions. Paint surveyors and specialists assess orange peel, dust inclusions and image distortion, sometimes using a one-metre-square frame to identify a very small number of particles.

At the same time, paint is getting worse and worse and more difficult. Everyone seems to want a grey, dark grey, light grey and blue hull now. These colours are a loaded gun. It is like Russian roulette, except every chamber is loaded. And then when a paint job is rejected, repainting is a massacre. You need to rescaffold, reshrinkwrap and redock. A 100-metre yacht requires around 44,000 square metres of shrink-wrap. Reshooting a side can add eight to ten weeks. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

The interviews describe a refit market that has become far less forgiving. Labour availability emerges as the primary constraint and heads of industry consistently point to shortages of skilled painters, supervisors and inspectors as the most notable driver of cost and delay.

Of course, environmental regulation is widely accepted as a necessary part of the landscape, but it also carries practical consequences. Naturally, we look to technology, but it cannot compensate for poor preparation or unrealistic expectations.

Paint in the refit sector remains a technically mature and well-understood discipline but the margin for error is wafer-thin. More paint moving through established cycles means more labour tied up for longer and more projects whose outcomes are less tolerant of delay, which will have ripple effects across the market. That’s not to say the market can’t and won’t adapt, but it’s the canary in the coal mine indicating it should.

This article first appeared in The Superyacht Report: Refit Focus. With our open-source policy, it is available to all by following this link, so read and download the latest issue and any of our previous issues in our library. 

Profile links

MB92 Barcelona

Royal Huisman

Lürssen

Amico & Co

Wrede Consulting GmbH

GYG Ltd

Lusben

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