A Quality Quarantine from the Comfort of a Superyacht

On Monday, Thai officials introduced a new initiative allowing tourists to spend their mandatory two-week quarantine period aboard a yacht. Earlier this year in January, visitors were allowed to ‘quarantine’ in golfing resorts, but now the government’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency also reports that yachts are suitable quarantine vehicles too.

Growth in Asia

Compared to the Mediterranean and Western shores of the Atlantic, Asia is currently regarded as an emerging market when it comes to yachting destinations. There has been a slow and stable rise in yachting activity, but we are yet to see the ‘boom’ which has been often speculated by many in recent years.

Strategic locations in Asia, including Phuket, have seen increasing interest from industry giants like Burgess, Camper & Nicholson, Fraser Yachts and Northrop & Johnson (amongst others), all having shown confidence by recently setting up offices in this region. VesselsValue too has commercial offices in Singapore and Shanghai (opening soon), which whilst initially were established for commercial shipping reasons, both now receive increasing attention from yachting stakeholders.

Data from VesselsValue’s platform counting the number of unique vessels inside territorial waters over the past 12 months, suggest that Thai waters have seen 35 AIS equipped Superyachts pass through in the past year. The largest was the infamous Tranquility (ex Equanimity), which our algorithms currently value at USD 141 mil / EUR 119 mil (see below).

Global Perspective

On the global playing field, Thailand still has a long way to go. France and the US continue to attract the largest traffic volumes of 1,238 and 1,200 AIS-equipped Superyachts respectively.

SEA Focus

Within the South East Asia region, Thailand has a respectable number of visitors, however, it is Indonesia and Malaysia that see the highest number of vessels inside their territorial waters. Due to their flanking of the Malacca Straights, which is the primary eastbound entrance to the majority of SEA, they are likely seeing the highest number of vessels in their waters despite them not all stopping there.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to provide general information and not to provide advice or guidance in relation to particular circumstances. Readers should not make decisions in reliance on any statement or opinion contained in this blog.

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