Truckers at Bluewater Yacht Builder struggle to load a megayacht on to a truck that will help the 30-tonne luxury boat begin its journey to its new owner in California. While the task may be tricky, at least this Taiwanese company has a buyer.
Taiwan recently overtook Germany to become the world’s sixth-largest yachtmaker, with 43 boats under construction. Yet despite this, sales are much lower than before the 2008 financial crisis. Production at yards across the country hit $148m last year, down from $357m in 2008.
“The market is actually shrinking so?.?.?.?all the shipyards couldn’t get enough orders,” said John Lu, chief executive of Horizon, the world’s tenth-largest yacht builder.