PHOTOS: van Wensveen
Editor’s note: MegayachtNews.com editor Diane M. Byrne is visiting several Dutch superyacht builders this week. It’s at the invitation of the Holland Yachting Group, a trade organization. Several yards have confidential projects, which precludes us from reporting on current activity. Others, however, can publicize some of their goings-on. What follows is the third such report, on Heesen Yachts.
When journalists visit a shipyard, typically the yard staff tours them through the build halls. They also take them aboard yachts under construction for a closer look. Heesen Yachts has done this over the years. With a dozen megayachts under construction, from hull creation to final commissioning, there’s a lot to see there. However, something journalists never get to see is how Heesen works with its customers from the pre-contract stage through to after-sales service. So, the yard’s management team led us journalists through an exercise, where we took on the role of a buyer. We got a sense of how Heesen, its design partners, and the owners’ team balance give-and-take with asserting a certain point of view.
Heesen’s sales and marketing departments set the scene. We started with the design and layout wish list, working with sales manager Robert Drontmann, Frank Laupman of Omega Architects, and a representative from MTU, its preferred engine supplier. Next, we consulted with the design and development department to start the specifications process, along with Stefan Zucker of Zucker and Partner, a yacht consultant and marine surveyor. After completing contract negotiations, we finally met with the after-sales and service department. This, pretending we were a few months past delivery, to review a punch list of items needing addressing.
Laupman asked about style and taste preferences while Drontmann and the MTU rep listened intently. Our “husband” and “wife” wanted a yacht made for Mediterranean and Caribbean cruising, as well as hops throughout the Bahamas. The latter dictated a shallow draft, so straight away, Drontmann recommended an aluminum hull. Due to the further request for a quiet environment onboard, both he and the MTU representative suggested hybrid propulsion. Rather than employ batteries, however, it uses gensets. This, they explained, permits silent running at about 10 knots on gensets alone for good periods—nearly silently. It’s ideal, for example, for venturing to a new port overnight, without disturbing sleep. Furthermore, it’s similar to the system aboard Home, awaiting delivery.
As for size and accommodations, our must-have list was a contemporary 164-footer (50-meter) for a party of 12, at a maximum of 500 gross tons, to keep regulations simpler. A beach club was key, as was an upper-deck master suite, facing aft. Furthermore, tenders had to be hidden. Here’s where the give-and-take really kicked in. Drontmann and the MTU rep both cautioned that a tender garage would squeeze space from the guest staterooms and engine room. Laupman therefore suggested and began sketching a side-opening tender bay toward the foredeck. But, Drontmann quickly pointed out, with Zucker confirming, that this would push gross tonnage higher. A few more give-and-take discussions later, and Laupman found a happy medium. A tender garage forward of the beach club, with athwartships stowage, worked out.
The give-and-take continued with Heesen’s design and development department. This division is responsible for working out the final specifications. For example, it weighs the wish list against the reality of class requirements. For our team, questions about LOA versus tonnage led to a quick resolution: LOA would become 163’7” (49.9 meters). A few other questions had Zucker quickly reply that he believed the classification society would accept the shipyard’s suggestions. Finally, it was time for contract negotiations. Normally, the owners’ lawyer and the shipyard’s lawyer work out the contract wording between themselves. But, Heesen and Jay Tooker (top, at left, with Heesen’s sales and marketing director Mark Cavendish), a partner at Holman Fenwick Willan, gave us quick insight into how it might play out. Tooker, for instance, discussed the importance of confirming payment terms and security.
At last, with Heesen’s after-sales team, our husband and wife, with Zucker, relayed some relatively minor operational issues. Heesen’s after-sales and service team recommends crew first try to troubleshoot small punch-list items. These can include dumbwaiter problems. Bigger ones, however, get tackled by the yard’s own staff. These can include davit and hatch problems as well as vibration issues.
A two-hour exercise is anything but the experience a real owner would have in this process. Regardless, it was valuable. Journalists rarely, if ever, get this type of detail as to what goes into a yacht’s creation, due to the highly confidential processes. The lessons learned will no doubt play a role in interviews and stories to come.
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