Megayacht Sellers Reach Indonesia‘s New Rich Population

The Azimut 105 megayacht stands tall and elegant along with 11 other yachts berthed at the Sunda Kelapa Batavia Marina port in North Jakarta.

The 32-meter long super-yacht has four luxury staterooms with full-size heads on the lower deck, a spacious living and dining room on the main deck, as well as a galley and a bar.

“It is the equivalent of a Ferrari — very fast and comfortable,” says Aileen Toh, marketing manager for Simpson Marine, the Hong Kong-based agents for Azimut in Asia .

With a price tag of ¤8 million (US$10.5 million), the Italian-made boat was on display at the first ever Indonesia Yacht Show this weekend. Also on display were boats from other countries, including Dubai-made Aycer, Bavarian boats from Germany and Indonesian-made craft.

With Indonesia’s economic boom of the last decade, industries catering to the rich and famous are turning their attention to the country’s burgeoning nouveau riche.

Yacht makers are catching on fast, as yachts become the must-haves for millionaires and young professionals with a taste for an expensive and adventurous hobby.

Lawyer Hendra Apriadi, who has been into sailing for more than 15 years, welcomed the arrival of foreign makes into the Indonesian boat market, which he hopes will bring prices down, or at least, give people like him more choices.

“In the past, imported boats were really expensive,” said Hendra.

The $10.5 million price tag for an Azimut 105 was just the starting point, Toh said. Buyers would have to spend even more on amenities like air conditioners, couches, TV sets, carpets and a mini bar. Some might also want to have stronger and faster engines, she added.

Yahya Husein, who runs a coal business, notes the growing number of foreign boat makers coming to Indonesia. “We can buy imported boats more easily now,” he said.

Hendra and Yahya visited the fair to shop for a bigger yacht, something more than 80-feet long, which could take them all the way from Jakarta to Bunaken, North Sulawesi. But for both Jakartans, nothing beats Bali as a destination, a 24-hour sail away.

John Mallan, an Australian living in Singapore, sells boats and knows full well the potential of the Indonesian market. As project manager of Promarine, a Singapore-based brokerage company, he was pushing the Bavarian boats, quoting prices between €100,000 and €500,000.

Mallan is a sailing buff himself. “We take our friends on a boat to places like Phuket.”

Indonesia was represented at the fair by a 12-meter boat retailing for Rp 3 billion ($306,000), interior included, from Millennium Marine Indonesia based in Depok just outside Jakarta. “Actually we wanted to bring a 17-meter boat for the display, but it wasn’t finished on time,” said Millennium Marine staff member Alex S.R.

PT Megawatt Asia, which spent two years organizing the fair, aimed for 6,000 visitors for the two-day event, which ended on Sunday. Marketing director Syelly Phie said one of the challenges was getting customs permits for the foreign boats for the exhibition.

This is unlikely to be the last yacht fair in Indonesia, with Syelly believing in the strong growth of the local market as personal incomes increase.

According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute, the number of Indonesian millionaires will almost double to 207,000 by 2017, from around 104,000 in 2012.

Paul Whelan, Simpson Marine general manager for Southeast Asia, says the company has sold six boats since opening its office in Indonesia in 2011. “In a really good year, we can sell up to four boats,” Whelan said.

For sailing buffs like Hendra, the superyacht experience is priceless and is worth every cent spent, “especially if you work in a highly stressed profession like the law”.

“Sometimes we go to sea just to take our minds off work, or to avoid staff who may try to contact us,” he said.

Source: TheJakartaPost