As the superyacht market has grown in popularity, size and sophistication, the support vessel, also known as a shadow vessel, has become an evermore common sight.
Shadowing the mothership, carrying extra staff and equipment, scouting ahead and generally working to ensure every passage is a success, these are basically commercial craft, with a specific task in mind. They should be tough workhorses, with function outweighing form and deck hardware taking priority over interior comforts.
Supporting the mother ship
Buying a support vessel means that, in theory, you already have a luxurious mothership, a large yacht or superyacht. However, such is the interest and admiration for support-type craft that some buyers are now looking at these highly capable vessels as standalone yachts, mixing the same super-practical deck spaces and seagoing strength with a more luxurious interior and guest accommodation.
The current generation’s design is a big reason for the support vessels popularity, featuring axe-like vertical bows leading on to tall, purposeful superstructures and long sweeps of deck running aft. They can be fast too, able to punch ahead and set up a basecamp or find the right anchorage.
Whichever yacht you buy, you will need to budget for the fit out of the deck area and purchase the requisite toys, tenders or more specialist items such as submarines or helicopters.
Economic sense
Support yachts are clearly an extra expense over running a single yacht, but when compared to the cost of purchasing a far larger superyacht, able to accommodate all of the kit and people a support vessel can swallow up, the economics start to look good.
The cost of say a 100m superyacht could be far more than the combined cost of a 60m yacht and a 40m support vessel.
