on 20 Jul 2021
The facility along Taiwan's west coast will have berths for yachts up to 40 metres
International Ocean Group (IOG), an offshore wind industry services firm, plans to open a new superyacht refit facility along Taiwan’s west coast as part of a new service yard for its fleet of support vessels, company officials said.
The port of Jiang Jun is about one hour’s drive from Kaohsiung with access to a major highway
The company is leasing an area of 18,000 square metres along the waterfront of the port of Jiang Jun, a well-protected harbour with a large breakwater and extensive brownfield sites.
Phase one of the project will see the creation of berths for crew transfer vessels and superyachts. Evelyn Huang, a Taiwan-based superyacht broker with extensive experience in Japan and Hong Kong, says up to 12 berths are planned in an area covering 150 metres by 30 metres.
Huang joined IOG last year to manage the new yacht refit business.
Some berths will be for IOG’s own vessels and seven or eight berths for visiting superyachts of up to 40 metres LOA. Huang says that the project is to begin this September, with facilities such as water, electrical supply, and security in place to welcome yachts by the summer of 2022.
The proposed refit facility located within Jiang Jun
A second phase will be the construction of a new shipyard big enough to allow for refit work on two superyachts at a time. This is to be ready by the summer of 2023.
IOG currently owns and operates a fleet of ten support vessels for the offshore windfarm industry, with the largest ship measuring 88 metres LOA. IOVTEC, later renamed IOG, was founded in 2013 as a marine geophysical survey company by Vincent Tsai, an oceanic engineer. The company expanded into offshore wind industry services and has continued to build up its services portfolio since then.
Peter Yen, a veteran of the Taiwan yacht industry and a subcontractor on yacht refit projects in Taiwan, is heading up the new superyacht refit project. Yen joined IOG in 2019 after the company decided it needed its own yard to handle repairs and maintenance.
Taiwan is one of the world’s leading yacht-building nations, and recent rule changes have encouraged local buyers to begin purchasing yachts, according to local industry leaders.
Requests for information can be directed to Ms. Renata Lee at renata.lee@iovtec.com.tw