I’ve just read a LinkedIn post by Martin Redmayne, ‘The Refit Feeding Frenzy’. He confesses to being “hot on the heels” of his comments about Safe Harbor Marinas and Blackstone’s heavy investment in the marinas and refit sector. Yes, over the past few years many takeover transactions have modified the traditional view of the business, and our industry sector of refit and repair has developed a forward motion that seems unstoppable. What we are seeing now appears to be an explosion following policies in the past that held back development, and an exponential approach explained by a seriously conservative policy that lasted for way too long.

We therefore need to look at our development over the past 20 years and not repeat the many mistakes made so far. The industry has grown, but those attempts to bring the industry to the times we are living in now were way too small, too timid and not daring enough for the level our sector deserves. Meantime, the yachting-boating industry soared – potential clients grow faster than facilities, both for marinas and shipyard work –  and the fascination of the large-yacht sector took over many developer’s dreams.

Whoever did the job, proved its value and is seeing returning clients must be distinguished
from the rest. Of course, newcomers should be supported and given a chance, but they must know
that Rome was not built in a day.

I see that this fascination draws followers at a surprising speed (there is money in refit, let’s go for it) – an inertia as old as mankind, eternal followers trying to benefit from the knowledge, risk and entrepreneurial expertise of industry makers, innovators and real leaders. The present situation explains why there are varying levels of quality and trustworthiness, as with banks or movies: “A” shipyard, “B” shipyard to start with, have SYBass and ICOMIA’s Refit Committee being able to help? In the marina Industry we have TYHA and the Gold Star, IMCI and the Blue Star, traditional quality certifications, the modern UPACA Clean Harbours and biodiversity (backed by ISO) and the CO2 audit SEA Index lead by M3, backed by Lloyd’s among many other. Today, almost every industry member can mention five top refit yards at any time. The top quality/experience/trustworthiness valuation is already in our minds, so why not give it industry official recognition? Not fair for full equal opportunity? I don’t believe that. Whoever did the job, proved its value and is seeing returning clients must be distinguished from the rest. Of course, newcomers should be supported and given a chance, but they must know that Rome was not built in a day.

There are cases when fast-acting developments work, but in most of them, the result will not be the desired one, because it misses the inner power of experience. One-off situations are acceptable but barely sustainable. With time, the operation will  improve by creating its own experience, by tailoring the services offered to a specific client that suits what the yard, the location, the staff and the available resources offer. One of the important concepts our industry does not, in my opinion, pay enough attention to is to figure out who is the ideal client, the one that tips the balanced offer the facility can offer. There are yards better suited to make smaller refits, others to make mechanical repairs, while others are better for quick inspections, antifouling or anodes.

It is logical that refit and repair, while gaining standing in the industry, trigger social events related to it. Professionals gather at conferences and gatherings to hear opinions and try to get ideas that would improve the business, not only increase profits, but reduce risks, have better trained staff or implement the use of what I defined as “the shipyard language” in a previous article. Most of such events follow the panels-to-audience format: a speaker talks, the audience listens. The participation of the audience is slowly getting better, the organisers awarding more time for Q&A and comments. What I still miss is the symposiums (symposium: an academic gathering concerning a scholarly subject) where professionals meet to exchange knowledge and to find ways of improving the industry – let’s call it refit and marina-management levels – real guys making it happening meeting with their peers. Several conferences organised in different places and at different times to discuss refit will probably be 80 per cent repetitive, not at all efficient and misleading instead of enlightening, creating false expectations.

It is well known that one of the key factors affecting refit and repair yards is availability of resources.
A shipyard could become another shipyard supplier of those missing resources.

When organising one of those conferences, it would be advisable to ask the participation of a well-known, proven-record refit yard to help with the programme, as there is nothing better than recognising knowledge straight from the horse’s mouth at promotion time. Having top speakers is no longer a guarantee of good content; real industry discussion topics are necessary and are what deliver recognition, a few dreams and a lot of doubts. This is how human evolution has worked, and that has not changed. Feeling that one will be in ‘good hands’ reaching the desired level and discussing shipyard’s real stuff during the event is what the participants want. Such practice can also facilitate the teaming up of yards on diverse specialities. It is well known that one of the key factors affecting refit and repair yards is availability of resources. A shipyard could become another shipyard supplier of those missing resources.

I have participated in many refit yard and refit project management discussions. The standard form with terms to quote and follow up the works always came up as something needed. Remember the excellent results the MYBA charter contract template achieved? Suddenly all parties were talking the same language, almost no more misinterpretations. It became a Code of Practice everybody was happy with. In 2009 the International Superyacht Painting Conference held in Monaco and born from a discussion of Albert Williamsen of ICOMIA and Patrick Whetter, creator of the Superyacht Cup, set the pace for the birth of ISO11347 –measurings and assessment for the visual appearance of yacht coatings – and was followed by professional yacht coatings events run by METS in Amsterdam. What about shafts repair, propeller balancing, modern welding, certification needs and maintenance or on-board systems running while the yacht is ashore? In our industry, success does not come through hours and days of conferences, but through practice, experience and technically educated staff, free enough to implement their magic. Two or three specific events per year should be enough to keep aware of news, trends and possible dangers.

There is enough refit and repair work for everybody; we must demonstrate to superyachts that whatever their choice, we are organised yet independent resources, all of us working to ensure they feel in good, capable hands.

We will shortly be commissioning content for our Q4 edition, focusing on Refit, so if you have something worthwhile and informative to add to the debate, then contact us here.

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