Skip to main content

Miami River Hosts Mega Yachts

At least once every four to five years, yachts must find a boatyard with sufficient lifting capacity and quality workmanship to tweak the running gear, repaint the hull, and add the latest in electronics and navigation equipment. As reported in the Caribbean Magazine in their October-December 2011 edition, this may also include adding a few meters in length to such a vessel to accommodate some new interior design concepts.

Golden Odyssey, a 264 foot/80.50 meter vessel was built at the Blohm & Voss yard in Hamburg, Germany and delivered in 1990. In 1995, Golden Odyssey had a refit at the Campbell shipyard. There her hull was lengthened from 76m to 80.5m after a modification of her stern. She also got a fully repaint. From time to time she underwent several small refits at different (undisclosed) yards.

Golden Odyssey is the flagship of the Golden Fleet and is sailing seas all over the world with her support yacht Golden Shadow (219 ft/66.75m) and the sport fishermen Golden Osprey (96 ft/27.45m). Beside many tenders and oceanographic equipment, from May 1999 onwards, a Cessna 208 Caravan Sea Plane for two pilots and eight guests was added to the Golden Fleet and is stowed aboard the Golden Shadow. The owner, His Royal Highness Price Khaled bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, has considerable interest in oceanography and often makes scientific research voyages with his fleet. The Crown Price is the founder and chief sponsor of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. Hence, the Golden Odyssey has a coral reef aquarium distributed over two decks and a window in the bow for Dolphin-watching.

Since February of 2011, the vessels of the Golden Fleet have made their mark on the entrance to the Miami River at their berth at the Epic Marina. The Golden Fleet are reportedly the largest and most unique single yacht ensemble in the world.

In addition, yacht builder David Marlow has purchased the world-famous Merrill Stevens boatyard on the Miami River. Malcolm Forbes' Highlander and Jacques Cousteau's Calypso reportedly call for service at the boatyard, now called the Marlow Merrill Stevens yard. There are plans to reportedly upgrade the yard's existing 500-ton Syncrolift to 750 tons, with a 100-ton Travelift being replaced by a 220-ton lift. With the extra lifting capacity, Marlow will be able to haul 115 foot vessels on the south side of the yard and 170-180 foot vessels on the north side of the yard. 

Thus, reports of Miami's demise as a shipyard destination appear to be mistaken. While it is true that the Miami River is dotted with huge high rise buildings on either side of this waterway, it remains the "logistics nexus of the Caribbean", as aptly named by the Miami River Marine Group.

If you are interested in received a complete copy of the Caribbean Maritime article or are interested in contact me, please feel free to do so at miamipandi@comcast.net.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maritime Law--Major Changes in the U.S. Relationship with Cuba

On December 17, 2014, President Obama announced that the United States would be setting a new course in U.S. relations with Cuba by easing some of the trade and travel restrictions which have been in place for over fifty (50) years.   President Obama stated that the policy of isolating Cuba has failed to accomplish the long term objective of promoting the emergence of a democratic Cuba, stating that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is no good for the American or Cuban people.   The main goal in lifting some of the restrictions is purported to focus on improving human rights, empowering democratic reforms, and promoting the independence of the Cuban people so that they do not need to rely so heavily on the Cuban state.   As a result of President Obama’s announcement, on January 16, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (31 CFR section 515) and the U.S. Depa...
2 comments
Read more

Maritime Law--Florida's Arbitration Code Is Now Revised

Those of us that practice maritime law regularly must always be on the lookout for the contract that may contain an arbitration clause. Thus, any laws related to arbitration are important to those of us practicing in this sector.       The Florida legislature has revised the Florida Arbitration Code ("FAC") and named it the Revised Florida Arbitration Code (the " Revised Act"). Since 1967, the FAC had gone mostly unchanged. The Revised Act addresses concepts that were not addressed in the old law, such as the ability of arbitrators to issue provision remedies, challenges based on notice, consolidation of separate arbitration proceedings, required conflict disclosures by arbitrators, among other major changes. The Revised Act lays out a detailed framework for international arbitration conducted under Florida law and repeals sections of the FAC. The Revised Act spells out what experienced arbitrators knew the case law to be, but codifies it all in one pl...
4 comments
Read more

ReThink + ReUse Center "It's How We Roll" Fun Raiser -- Bowling Night -- October 16, 2014

As many of my readers may be aware, I am the Chair of the ReThink + ReUse Center, a non-for-profit educational and environmental Center in Miami educating children into rethinking reuseable materials for learning through play. The ReThink and ReUse Center’s Quality Play is Learning Program provides a series of educational and participatory workshops based on the philosophies of Reggio Emilia and Harvard's Project Zero Visible Thinking. The Children’s Trust is the major funder of this program, but the Center is required to continually fundraise for the balance its annual budget.   The Center is having a fun event you are invited to--the ReThink + Reuse Center’s “It’s How We Roll” bowling event on October 16, 2014 at Splitsville Luxury Lanes from 18:00 to 21:30 hours. My firm, Comcast and Waste Management are major sponsors for this event, but we could use a few more sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please let me know by reaching me at mov@chalos...
6 comments
Read more