Taiwan’s yacht builders take part in the Fort Lauderdale boat show
Local builders are taking the opportunity to probe whether world’s yacht market is about to rebound
Leading Taiwanese yacht builders are taking part in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2009, the world’s largest exhibition of its kind, slated for Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 in the Florida city known as “the yachting capital of the world. »
The local builders are taking the opportunity to probe whether the world’s yacht market is about to rebound from the global economic meltdown of the past year, said Chien Hung-yi, sales manager of Johnson Yachts, one of the leading OEM builders for foreign big-name yacht companies.
Chien, who has been in the trade for 24 years, said that “2009 has been the slowest year ever. »The boat show — celebrating its 50th anniversary this year — will feature US$3 billion-worth of boats, yachts, super yachts, electronics, engines and boating accessories from every major marine manufacturer and boat builder worldwide.
John Lu, founder and CEO of Horizon Yachts — the largest yacht builder in Asia and sixth-largest in the world — said orders of his group dropped by 70 percent in 2009, making it the only year since 2006 to witness sliding business.
Lu, however, said he feels that the group’s business is just about to sail out of the danger zone.
According to tallies from the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, yacht building revenue in Taiwan amounted to NT$9.2 billion (US$285 million) in 2007 and further expanded to US$10.8 billion in 2008, but the figure totaled only some US$6 billion this year.
Taiwan’s yacht industry is a 30-year veteran in the yacht building world, said Lu, even though yachting is non-existent in the country as a result of restrictive regulations.
He said Taiwan is the only country in the world in which yacht builders build yachts on land, and the only yacht building country in the world in which yachting has until recently not been permitted.
It is not impossible for Taiwan to turn into a yachting country if the government lifts a ban on the development of marinas and yachting, as well as adding new statutes governing yachting, he said.
“Once bans are lifted and regulations put in place, the domestic yacht building business will boom, » he predicted.
Horizon Yachts, which has been in the business for over 20 years, is at present building several 136-meter luxury yachts for international buyers.
Although the sector’s production value cannot be on par with that of the high-technology industry, Lu said, it could be an influential force diplomatically, as buyers of luxury yachts from abroad are mostly business or industrial leaders in rich and influential countries.
Meanwhile, Lin Kun-chi, general manager of a Horizon subsidiary, said China is catching up with Taiwan in yacht building. “Despite a shabby, backwater start, the Chinese builders are catching up fast and they are building marinas, » he added.
Category: Events News, Shipyard News
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