Circle of life
Deaths (and a birth) in the yachting community. A4, A6
Do tell
When applying for a job, tell the truth. It just might save your life. C1 Vol. 4, No. 5
www.the-triton.com
Different
Crewing in Alaska is its own world.
A28
August 2007
MYBA to take over St. Maarten charter show By Lucy Chabot Reed Officials with the St. Maarten Charteryacht Exhibition are in the final stages of working out an agreement with MYBA to take over possession of the 3-year-old show. Although still unofficial, MYBA expected to release a statement in
late July to announce the dates of the 2007 show, traditionally held in early December before or after Antigua’s show. Antigua will be held Dec. 5-10. This would be the second show owned by the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association, which added the descriptor “The Worldwide Yachting Association” to its logo this year. Its
other show is the MYBA Charter Show in Genoa, just off its 19th show in May. Officials with MYBA and organizers of last year’s St. Maarten show would not comment about the ownership change until the contracts have been finalized, but industry sources confirmed that the deal was expected to close and the 2007 show would be
held in early December. “I’m encouraged by MYBA taking over,” said Sandy Taylor, yacht manager with Northrop & Johnson in Ft. Lauderdale. “Maybe they will figure how to attract more boats and brokers.” Crowds, boats and brokers have
See MYBA, page A22
Owner seeking options to reopen Savannah yard
REFUGEE RESCUE
By Lucy Chabot Reed
While traveling north from St. Thomas to Miami, the captain and crew of the M/Y Argyll spotted a drifting 31-foot boat, brought food and water to its passengers, called the U.S. Coast Guard and stayed until the USCG vessel arrived. Read their story, A14. PHOTO/BOSUN CHRISTOPHER BURTON
Capt. Richard Johnson knew something was wrong. A couple of weeks before Global Ship Systems in Savannah closed in late June, Johnson had heard grumblings of unmet payroll and he could feel the tension. So he went to the key people who had been overseeing his refit for the past two years and told them that if there were any lay-offs that those employees would still have work – at least for a couple more months – finishing the refit on the 117-foot tri-deck M/Y Rebecca. “Yes, it was a big responsibility, but in the long-term it gets my job done,” Johnson said in July from his new berth at Hinkley Yachts down the river from GSS. “That’s the ball, and I’ve got to keep my eye on the ball.” Global, the 3-year-old repair yard
that turned a 50-year-old commercial shipyard into one of the most significant yards on the U.S. East Coast, closed June 29, leaving more than 100 employees out of work and a handful of yacht projects in various states of repair. Global CEO Rob Creech told the Savannah Morning News that he expected to have financing in place to reopen the yard, possibly by midAugust. Though he returned a phone call from The Triton, Creech had been traveling since the close, reportedly seeking financing solutions to reopen the yard. He could not be contacted in time for this story. “[Stopping operations] was a tough decision, but one that had to be made,” Creech told the Morning News. “It was the right thing to do, the
See GLOBAL, page A10
Captains voice questions, uncertainty about alternative fuels With several stories about ethanol, biodiesel and lo-sulfur diesel in the paper the past couple of months, we thought it was a good time to ask megayacht captains what they think of alternative fuel. Does anyone use alternative fuel? What sort of preparations are From the Bridge needed, if any? Lucy Chabot Reed Since it is summer in Ft. Lauderdale, most of the captains in attendance at this month’s From the Bridge luncheon had vessels in shipyards. And who better to talk about
the mechanics of their vessels than those working on them every day? There are a few types of alternative fuel being discussed in the yachting world today. One is ultra low-sulfur diesel, known as ULSD and which the U.S. government began phasing into the marine industry this year. Since June 1, regular diesel has no longer been available to the marine industry. The new standard is low sulfur. ULSD will be required for marine engines beginning in 2012. Another type is biodiesel, which is basically cooking oil that will burn in a diesel engine. There is also ethanol, which is a fuel made from corn and works in gasoline engines.
All the alternatives are meant to curb harmful engine emissions, but as with any system change, there are lots of questions. None of the five captains in attendance had used biodiesel or ethanol, and one uses ULSD regularly on his yacht. They all agreed that they pretty much represented the yachting industry. (A major fuel bunkering company in Europe only recently made its first delivery of biodiesel to a megayacht. See that story on page B1.) As soon as the topic was introduced, the conversation began with questions. “If you start burning alternative fuel, can you go back?” “What’s the advantage?”
“With low sulfur, is there a heat issue?” As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A18. These captains were most interested in talking about fuel for their main engines, which includes ULSD and biodiesel. So what’s the advantage? “It’s renewable,” one captain said. “In looking 100 years out, we have to do it.” “But it’s expensive as hell,” another
See BRIDGE, page A18