Why 499GT?
Super yachts of 499GT come in all shapes and sizes. Learn why 499 is such an important number.
Why Are Some Super Yachts Engineered to Exactly 499GT?
Ever find yourself down the super yacht rabbit hole? You may recognize a head-scratching pattern. More often than not, yachts around the 50m range all coincidentally land on the same displacement value: 499 GT (Gross Tonnes).
Here's why…
New builds are governed by regulatory agencies to manage the safety of passengers and crew, regardless of size. Those regulations are most restrictive at the 500GT threshold, when regulations like the SOLAS Convention slap a list of requirements to the engineering, outfitting and management protocols of an international passenger vessel.
To evade these restrictions, owners, brokers and their naval architects design ships within the 499 GT limit, to maximize usable space while evading additional costs inherited from larger regulatory and safety obligations. There is nothing wrong with this practice, as a matter of fact, its an objectively smart decision should your preferred size be anywhere within range of the 500GT mark. At 500 GTs, its estimated the regulations alone can increase build cost by 20%.
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Gross Tonnage or "GT", is the measure of a vessel's internal volume.
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An international treaty to standardize requirements to ensure the safety of merchant ships. SOLAS stands for "Safety of Life at Sea".
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Requirements focus on vessels' structure, machinery, electrical equipment, fire protection, life-saving appliances, radio communications, safety of navigation and carriage of cargo. This applies to cargo ships as well as passenger vessels (i.e. charter yachts).
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 499GT & SUPPORT VESSELS
Support vessels (accessory ships to larger motherships) are used for a variety of reasons. They can provide additional storage for tenders, toys, fuel, guest cabins, and even a basketball court (see U-81). Sometimes they are preferred alongside a 499GT mothership instead of building one larger, more expensive vessel. Recently, Royal Huisman delivered m/y Phi under this strategy: a sleek 58.5m mothership was supported by the smaller m/y Phi Phanom, together supplying guests with similar features to a ship over 70m, at a lower cost.
GET INFORMED TODAY
My #1 driver is educating my clients so they can make smart purchase decisions. Therefore, I try to make myself available with open ears any chance I get. As a reader of my blog, I offer you the same access.
If a quick call and a few questions would help you solve the unknown, schedule a call in my calendar.
- Reed Nicol, Founder of rnmarine.com & Licensed Yacht Broker
