Shipping a yacht from Spain to New Zealand

The yacht itself had a height of 4.35 meters and when placed in its specially designed cradle on top of a roll trailer, the unit reached a total height of 5.15 meters. This required a vessel with a high door clearance, something that Höegh Autoliners’ New Horizon vessels could supply. The Höegh Trapper has a door height of 6.5 meters and trading in the direct service between Europe and Oceania, it showed a perfect fit to the customer’s requirements.

The spectacular yacht, sailed in to Barcelona and needed to be lifted from the sea before it could be loaded on board the vessel. The whole operation required specialist cargo handling and a team of divers, which Höegh Autoliners coordinated.

To be able to lift the yacht out of the water, the divers put slings at important points around the boat whilst in the water. Thereafter, two cranes worked in tandem to lift the 18 tonne yacht on to a 62 foot rolltrailer with a metal cradle on top. The cradle was specially made for the yacht by its charterer, to ensure that it would be positioned safely during its entire sea transportation.

According to the Port Captain on site,

The main problem with yachts, is that it is quite difficult to find good securing points designed for sea transportation. Due to their delicate construction, yachts can be damaged by simply over tightening the lashing system. The yacht and cradle therefore was secured according to Höegh Autoliners’ requirements, with particular consideration given to the amount of tension applied to each lashing point.

The smooth operation ensured that the yacht was loaded on board the New Horizon vessel Höegh Trapper to the satisfaction of the customer, and ready for its sea transportation to Auckland.

Iñaki Echeverria, Head of Höegh Autoliners Spain says,

The success if this operation comes down to not only the good communication and coordination between Höegh Autoliners Spain, Complete Marine Freight and our agents at the port, but the expert cargo handling team during this entire operation.