Berth place of billionaires (From Daily Echo)
When news happens, text SDE and your photos or videos to 80360. Or contact us by email and phone.
Berth place of billionaires
2:28pm Tuesday 8th September 2009 in
-
- By Gareth Lewis » Business Editor
IT’S the most exclusive parking space in Southampton – complete with a heli-pad next door.
Port bosses hope to attract the likes of billionaire Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and his multi-millionaire mates by earmarking a berth especially for their superyachts.
Traditionally more Monte Carlo than Southampton, superyachts may soon become a familiar sight in Southampton Water if the plan is successful.
City shipping agents are hoping that Berth 49, next to the newly-opened Ocean Terminal for cruise ships, near the city centre and with easy access for helicopters will prove an irresistible lure, especially with the upcoming Olympics and the close proximity of Southampton to major airports.
It’s the brainchild of Orchard Place-based Suyperyacht Agency, which is an offshoot of well-known city shipping firm Wainwright Bros & Co.
They hope to turn a trickle of recent superyacht visits in the city into a flood.
Tim Wainwright, managing director of Superyacht Agency, said: “Already we are getting requests for a good berth in an attractive location near the city centre. They want good facilities, water and electricity and parking for drop offs and this berth has all that, is near the Ocean Cruise Terminal and there’s a helicopter landing pad for them too.
“A prime location berth will attract more superyachts to the city and we are in the process of marketing it. We see this as a growing business and something we are looking to develop with our contacts in the superyacht industry.
“Every other major port has many more of these vessels but we don’t have many in Southampton and we want to improve that by working with ABP. It is difficult to say how many more we might get but we have had a couple this year so maybe next year we might get between five and 10.”
It’s the latest link the region has with the glamorous world of superyachts, traditionally understood to be more than 50m long. Already the region is a hub for the naval architecture of these boats, and is home to many craftsmen who specialise in fitting them out.
Hampshire in particular has a long association with superyachts, with some of the biggest privately-owned vessels in the world, such as the Maltese Falcon, Mirabella V and Samar, having been either designed or built in the area.
Already Southampton has hosted several vessels belonging to Roman Abramovich, with his floating pleasure palaces Pelorus and Ecstasea both worth more than £70m.
Another of his former yachts Le Grand Bleu, 114m long and valued at a cool £75m – a recent gift from Abramovich to business partner Eugene Shvidler – visited here in July.
Sir Donald Gosling, who made his fortune from the NCP car parking business, is also a regular caller at the city with his vessel Leander, Britain’s most expensive charter ship at more than £280,000 a week.
The £36m playboy’s toy T6 has also called in Southampton several times this year as brokers try to sell her on behalf of one of New Zealand’s richest men.
Comments(33)
goard
says...
4:24pm Tue 8 Sep 09
goard
freemantlegirl2
says...
6:17pm Tue 8 Sep 09
Brite Spark
says...
7:05pm Tue 8 Sep 09
freemantlegirl2 wrote:Funny thing that! If I lean far enough out of my uber rich port hole on my luxury multi billion pound yacht at Ocean Terminal, I can see your bathroom window in Freemantle, it was easier before IKEA got in the way though.
As per usual people not reading facts, the berth (pictured) is NEXT to an existing cruise ship berth (which I can see if I lean far enough out of our bathroom window lol) it won't affect the views, the park, the pier in any way. Yes, this is the realms of what most of us dream about but I really don't see what the detriment is to the rest of us! This has b*gger all to do with the Council, it's trying to promote the berths, making the best use and promoting their company facilities. I sometimes think all you moaners would be happy if everyone was walking around in sackcloth and ashes, that no events were held, no one is allowed to enjoy themselves in the city and that go back to the days of horses and carts and servitude!...
Brite Spark
says...
8:26pm Tue 8 Sep 09
Come on Southern Evening Echo, it should be "Birth Place".
Honestly :-( .... ... ...
southy
says...
8:29pm Tue 8 Sep 09
Ben Doone
says...
9:13pm Tue 8 Sep 09
Both will pay an appropriate tariff to the port so both are technically commercial vessels.
I would be most surprised if many marinas in the UK can take vessels in excess of 100m.
Also I fail to see how the occasional berthing of a super yacht has any connection with container operations as alluded to by Southy.
Wonder if Southy was up in arms when Lord and Lady Docker used to berth their yacht in Soton back in the 50's
stay local
says...
12:10am Wed 9 Sep 09
southy wrote:So you feel that Southampton is a commercial port, is that one of your recent ideas? What is the basis of this concept?
what do i think, king mush. well i tell ya, its a commercial port and it should be use has one, and not for private boats, they can go to a marina to berth up. you can see what they are up to, waste some space off then conplain that they do not have enough room, and start demanding the bay to turn into the a docks.
Why do you presume that passenger cruising is not a commercial operation, since passengers are paying for the privilege, what is the difference between people and cattle or cars, each of which the transportation is a commercial enterprise. Is it more a question of you not approving of people working hard to gain reward that they can spend in away that they see fit, and you would prefer them to pay more to support the idle do nothings?
The 1939 docks hand book says that Southampton docks “Within comparatively recent years, Southampton has become established as one of the foremost commercial seaports of Britain. The facilities and equipment are among the finest in the world.” But this is some years after the Titanic and other cruise ships were using the port so it seems that once again your information is fogged with rhetoric.
Your selective skills when seeking to give information does seem to have a political background is you icon was it the first Labour co-operative member of parliament, a local lad brought up in Southampton who then was one of the founding fathers of the then social democrat party … John Stonehouse
southy
says...
1:14am Wed 9 Sep 09
Ben Doone wrote:commercial ships bring in goods or/and paying passengers, a private dont, there are loads marina that can take 100mt boats and bigger there two marinas in poole harbour that can take that size, one is a tidal the other is deep water plus the marina up by the power station in poole. docker only stayed a short while when she called into southampton just long enough to take on water, normaly when in southampton her boat use to go up the itchen to the old VT yard, but you would mainly see it at the blue lagoon harbour behide the locks in poole, whitch was only about mile away from her home in poole, another common place to see her boat was in the thames.
Whats the difference between a commercial ship and a private yacht?
Both will pay an appropriate tariff to the port so both are technically commercial vessels.
I would be most surprised if many marinas in the UK can take vessels in excess of 100m.
Also I fail to see how the occasional berthing of a super yacht has any connection with container operations as alluded to by Southy.
Wonder if Southy was up in arms when Lord and Lady Docker used to berth their yacht in Soton back in the 50's
its not so much the occasional berthing thats not a problem, read what they want, they hoping it will turn into a flood of private boats and if that happens they will need more space so taking up spots that is used for commercial shipping, and if that happen's it will put pressure on the rest of the docks, you would also lose jobs with like the steveadores. just think about for a while ben.
umm stay local are you agreeing with me there because it looks like it. "" So you feel that Southampton is a commercial port, is that one of your recent ideas? What is the basis of this concept?"" this i can answer easy for you, southampton port was first a commercial and navy pert till henry the 8th when he moved the navy part down to portsmouth, then it became a commercial port except at times of war, and its been like that ever since henryVIII.
""Why do you presume that passenger cruising is not a commercial operation,"" why do you presume i dont class passenger ship has commerial, because your wrong i do class them has commercial.
""Within comparatively recent years, Southampton has become established as one of the foremost commercial seaports of Britain"" southampton has been a established and foremost commerial port since henryVIII its not a new thing. think about it a bit longer.
Brite Spark
says...
5:35am Wed 9 Sep 09
Answers on a postcard to: -
HMS Portsmouth Surrender Ship
Brought Shame on the RN
The Dockyard
freemantlegirl2
says...
8:09am Wed 9 Sep 09
southy wrote:what a load of drivel! sorry but it is..... this is not going to affect Western docks at all! there are no appropriate berths down there if you'd care to walk down and take a look! (yes i live near the start of Western docks). Honestly, this isn't due to clear fact-finding it's another one of your political rambling sessions. I can guess what's coming next... if the Socialist Party get into power we will ban all private yachts (which I can tell you DO have fare paying passengers as the owners hire them out, they have to to make them viable)... it's all getting rather boring and predictable Southy. One would like to hear an opinion that isn't clouded by your political views....
Ben Doone wrote:commercial ships bring in goods or/and paying passengers, a private dont, there are loads marina that can take 100mt boats and bigger there two marinas in poole harbour that can take that size, one is a tidal the other is deep water plus the marina up by the power station in poole. docker only stayed a short while when she called into southampton just long enough to take on water, normaly when in southampton her boat use to go up the itchen to the old VT yard, but you would mainly see it at the blue lagoon harbour behide the locks in poole, whitch was only about mile away from her home in poole, another common place to see her boat was in the thames.
Whats the difference between a commercial ship and a private yacht?
Both will pay an appropriate tariff to the port so both are technically commercial vessels.
I would be most surprised if many marinas in the UK can take vessels in excess of 100m.
Also I fail to see how the occasional berthing of a super yacht has any connection with container operations as alluded to by Southy.
Wonder if Southy was up in arms when Lord and Lady Docker used to berth their yacht in Soton back in the 50's
its not so much the occasional berthing thats not a problem, read what they want, they hoping it will turn into a flood of private boats and if that happens they will need more space so taking up spots that is used for commercial shipping, and if that happen's it will put pressure on the rest of the docks, you would also lose jobs with like the steveadores. just think about for a while ben.
umm stay local are you agreeing with me there because it looks like it. "" So you feel that Southampton is a commercial port, is that one of your recent ideas? What is the basis of this concept?"" this i can answer easy for you, southampton port was first a commercial and navy pert till henry the 8th when he moved the navy part down to portsmouth, then it became a commercial port except at times of war, and its been like that ever since henryVIII.
""Why do you presume that passenger cruising is not a commercial operation,"" why do you presume i dont class passenger ship has commerial, because your wrong i do class them has commercial.
""Within comparatively recent years, Southampton has become established as one of the foremost commercial seaports of Britain"" southampton has been a established and foremost commerial port since henryVIII its not a new thing. think about it a bit longer.
Ben Doone
says...
8:25am Wed 9 Sep 09
Your vivid imagination is running away with you.
You assume that Soton Docks is going to be awash with Gin Palaces, there will be no space for cargo ships, stevedores will use their jobs and the pressure on space will add to the argument for Dibden bay.
If you read the article properly you will see that the initiative to handle more of these 'super yachts' has come from a local shipping agent. They have made the contacts and the port has been able to provide a berth next to the new Cruise terminal.
As far as I can recollect this berth (No 49) has never been used for any regular trade for many years (certainly not for cargo handling) so its good use of under utilised space.
Hope this helps.
freemantlegirl2
says...
8:26am Wed 9 Sep 09
Brite Spark wrote:It's what you call a 'play on words' ! a double meaning, very often used in the newspaper world !
"Berth Place of Billionaires"
Come on Southern Evening Echo, it should be "Birth Place".
Honestly :-( .... ... ...
King Mush
says...
11:12am Wed 9 Sep 09
Ben Doone wrote:lol @ Lady Docker bit!
Whats the difference between a commercial ship and a private yacht?
Both will pay an appropriate tariff to the port so both are technically commercial vessels.
I would be most surprised if many marinas in the UK can take vessels in excess of 100m.
Also I fail to see how the occasional berthing of a super yacht has any connection with container operations as alluded to by Southy.
Wonder if Southy was up in arms when Lord and Lady Docker used to berth their yacht in Soton back in the 50's
I have heard many stories of the old soak who was often seen staggering out of the Rolls parked by the yacht or any Transatlantic liner.
Passing dockers trying to help were greeted with a barrage of drunken expletives as she navigated the gangplank up to her floating gin palace.
No wonder she 'lost' her jewels! Worth a read-up. Hilarious stuff and one of our great characters from a byegone age.
She invented 'binge drinking'
southy
says...
12:23pm Wed 9 Sep 09
ben i agree with you on 49 berth it dont get used that often, its more of a over flow berth, car transporters have been on that berth, but thats only once in a blue moon, last time i can remember working that berth was back in the early 90's, and that was only because another car transporter broke down and was stuck on its berth. but you can see what i mean lo its ok having a few come in here once in a while theres no rea; problem with that, and dont lose room at the moment. but you start building a heliport that takes up space, space that cargo could be laid down on, then you need a car parking area, more space lost. and when those sort of conditions are in place you find those gin boats tend to stay in that location and only leaving port once in a while (spending more time in port than at sea) and once you got one doing that, then there be more doing it in the long run, then there be more space gone, thats how it all starts, dont think of today but look into the future 20 30 40 or more year's ahead. look what happen so far in eastern docks, town quay, ocean village, that part of the docks where carryfast use to be. all lost to dock useage, eastern docks is slowly getting smaller. and the docks have all ready been moaning about not having enough land space. it could be the begining of the end of southampton docks thats some thing only time will tell.
Ben Doone
says...
3:20pm Wed 9 Sep 09
Be interested to learn if you agree with me that there is more land available now for port activity than in the 60's which is not the view most people have
southy
says...
3:41pm Wed 9 Sep 09
Ben Doone wrote:well if you count the redbridge end, then look at the docks area pre building the container port, then yes there is more room, but cars and containers take up a lot of room, and the moment containers are being a bit of a problem laying empty and stack up all over the show, its becoming to look like a dumping ground for empty containers and they are not just laying empty in the docks there are places out side the city where they are being layed up and unused.
Southy
Be interested to learn if you agree with me that there is more land available now for port activity than in the 60's which is not the view most people have
stay local
says...
3:55pm Wed 9 Sep 09
So please explain how marinas where people keep their private boats is not a commercial use?
If a boat, yacht or gin palace ties up at the docks be it called a dock or a marina they are charged a fee. This is a commercial transaction, they pay for their fuel and harbour services which is a boost to the local economy which seem to me to be a good thing.
They have not yet made plans to remove the container port, but to use part of the ocean terminal (which already has space) it is a good example of diversification as it mans that the city and docks are not solely reliant upon one form of trade. Even the proposers of the project are a commercial company who are a lock established dock business.
Is it not just a case of red southy does not approve as come the revolution after the rivers of blood have run in the streets there will be no need for super yacht parking spaces as al the people of wealth will have relocated to other countries to avoid the dawn of newspeak and comrade big brother.
southy
says...
6:00pm Wed 9 Sep 09
southy
says...
10:51pm Wed 9 Sep 09
tell me where will they run to, when the world is slowly changing and looking into socialism politics, even in the usa obama is trying to introduce socialism starting with the health system.
stay local
says...
2:50pm Thu 10 Sep 09
southy wrote:No not one bit but that is hardly surprising..If I moor my five gin palaces and then charge people to hire them for cruises is a commercial venture, and do the same for yachts, canoes and dinghy’s that according to you is commercial use.
your getting mix up a bit local. its the ship boat vessel, that is a private or commercial we were taking about. just because a vessel ties up in a marina or dock and pays a fee to moor there, it dont make the vessel commercial or private, it onlt makes the dock or marina commercial if it charges a fee. hope that cleared it up for you.
Whilst I see commercial as making revenue, if gin palaces owned by football managers stop in Southampton then they will pay fees to stop here, in addition they will need to be maintained (another commercial opportunity here) they will need stores and materials (commercial opportunity) the people will need to park their cars helicopters etc (commercial opportunity, are you getting the idea yet) they will help with local employment so would be a good thing for the city or perhaps we could say Fyffes Banana terminal should only be used for bananas to retain the cities commercial heritage. Unfortunately as demand and production methods change so does demand and we need to be proactive to exploit different businesses. Otherwise Cunliffe Owen and supermarine would still be where the fords factory is now!
southy
says...
10:58pm Thu 10 Sep 09
now you compair the money it would make to say like a 600 car transporter, that would come in and leave on the same day, a gin boat would not even earn 1/10 of the money, there a lot more money involve with commercial boats than there is with private boats. think about it longer, and once you get one staying for long period of time, then you get another and another and so forth till they have pushed out the commercial shipping and you end up with a rich man play ground where the local have no longer a say, its happen in other parts of the world in the pass, and thats how potishead docks lost there commercial shipping they let private boats in and then another, till the wheat ships could no longer get there to discharge there animal feed, and ended up going to highbridge and dunball docks. is this what you want to see happen. because it will if you let it happen for one gin boat.
Ben Doone
says...
11:25pm Thu 10 Sep 09
Some while ago you were extolling the virtues of Bristol Port and how well they were doing now you are saying trade is being lost to minor wharves at Burnham (Highbridge) or Dunball.
Dunball only handled about 70,000 ts of cargo last year, mainly aggregates?
You also say that a 'Gin Palace' would only pay 10% of a '600 car transporter'.
So what are the figures you are working on? I bet you have no idea what the comparative charges are.
stay local
says...
11:50pm Thu 10 Sep 09
southy
says...
12:46am Fri 11 Sep 09
think about it ben and you local 12 to 24 steveadores need to be hired, cars that are in the laying down area are charge on a daily basis, shutting riggs, maffis deliverys of cars, and taken away cars, tender boats and tugs, all those people would not be need for those jobs, now redo your maths, then it will reflect back on the port less money for abpj.then think about the same happening the next day and the next and so forth.
Ben Doone
says...
11:05am Fri 11 Sep 09
I stand corrected. Portishead Docks has been turned into a very successful marina and this, in actual fact, has generated the small town of Portishead.
Previously the small commercial dock handled coal which went into two power stations which are now defunct so credit to those who were able to come up with the regeneration plan.
I take your point that a car carrier coming into port will pay more, in total, than a 'Gin Palace' (however, as an aside I never seen or heard of cars being moved by Mafi's!!!)
Finally if you go back to the original story you will see that the Port Agent involved is hoping to attract between 5 & 10 Superyachts to Soton over a period of a year.They will be allocated a previously underutilised berth. How you can convert this relatively minor activity to a threat to other commercial activity in the port is beyond me
southy
says...
12:33pm Fri 11 Sep 09
not cars on maft's but things like french slate and other things of that sort of nature do.
5 to 10 super yachts then 5 to 10 more on top in the next few years and so forth. and when you get one of those private boats in they tend to just stay there and not go any where. take a look at monte carlo once a commercial dock (now mainly only the med ferries that work there) and fishing village, now a rich man play ground. and most of those private boats dont go any where they just sit there for one reason the monte carlo road race, apart from that they are little used apart from the odd holiday here and there. this will happen here, they get used when events like cows week, the power boat races, the boat show those sort of events.
Ben Doone
says...
4:46pm Fri 11 Sep 09
As usual you let your vivid imagination run away with you.
On one hand you confirm that 'cargo' ships bring in more revenue to the port then suggest that the port will be swamped by 'Gin Palaces'
This will never happen in Soton a) because of greater revenue from cargo ships and b) those people who can afford mega yachts are going to concentrate on the Med or the Caribbean. Much as I like Soton I know where my yacht would be found most of the year (if I had the money!!)
The mega yacht trade in big commercial ports will only ever be marginal business.
btw re the mafis. Look at your earlier post, you definately said cars on mafis!!
The slate you referred to came up from Spain and has not moved thro the port for nearly 10 yrs now.
southy
says...
8:36pm Fri 11 Sep 09
the slate will be back again some time, it had been and gone from here before.
your forgetting some thing ben some of those mega rich people have more than one of those gin boats. and they fly to there boats.
but for "this will never happen in soton" dont be to sure about it, parts of the docks have all ready been lost, has i all ready pointed out, all it take is this recession to get deeper and less commercial shipping traffic and abpj will think about letting more of the docks go, and you lost another bit. and its not letting my vivid imagination run away with me. this is what happening its happen in the pass in other parts of the world, and i dont doubt it will happen again some where, just make sure it dont happen here.
Ben Doone
says...
8:58pm Fri 11 Sep 09
southy
says...
10:30pm Fri 11 Sep 09
Ben Doone
says...
10:04am Sat 12 Sep 09
As I have explained to you many times before the port handles more tonnage now than at any time it's history.
I dont think you can't grasp the concept that the reason there are less ships in port these days is that they turn round so much faster and also handle far more cargo.
You also make the comment of cars taking up space but dont forget 3 multi deck car parks for trade cars have been built in recent years adding space which more or less equates for the loss of the land at Ocen Village
I'm glad to learn that you think the port has a good future once the recession ends.
In previous posts you have consistently argued Southampton will become a back water, by- passed by the big ships who will be off to Felixstowe, Bristol or your old favourite Thames Gateway which, incidentally, still has not seen any work progress on the site!!
southy
says...
8:30pm Sat 12 Sep 09
ben i still stick to the port future, the way it will be but its not going to happen in the next 10 20 years, ships are going to get bigger, because its cheaper, but it dont mean we cant grap all the ships that will be able to come up here, we know the container port only be a container hub port, but it going to be the major hub port, in europe it be servering the channel and the south coast and hopefully the north east corner of africa. and hopefully they will never compleat that transcontinanal rail line from china to germany.
there was talk of building another multi layer car park in the western docks, dont know how that got on lo.
More News stories
- Series injuries after crash involving manure spreader
- Fuel theft
- Children's online abuse figures revealed
- £20,000 worth of jewellery stolen in home raid
- Redknapp jury sent home
- Girl, 13, given contraceptive implant at school
- We’ll slash ‘well-off’ OAPs' tax discounts
- Don't bulldoze our pub
- Employee jailed for arson attack
- Budget hotel group unveils city vision
Le Grand Blue
Mirabella V
Most popular
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
King Mush says...
4:03pm Tue 8 Sep 09
Are these stories merely printed to provoke a backlash?
Do we really care about the uber rich billionaires and their toys moored up in Soton?
I guess it brings money into local maritime services and helps boost the profile but it does leave a nasty taste in the mouth.
I wonder what Southy thinks of it all?