Riviera Gold Coast: Massive $20m luxury yacht shipment to the US

A Gold Coast-based company has made its biggest-ever US sale, shipping more than $20m worth of luxury motor yachts to the US.

GOLD COAST-based luxury boat builder Riviera has made its biggest-ever US sale, shipping more than $20m worth of motor yachts to the US.

Destined for Miami Florida and October’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the 10 vessels were loaded into a transport ship over a two-day period before departing on Saturday.

Riviera production director Kyle Davison said it took three tides to get the craft aboard for transport.

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“Each motor yacht takes up to an hour-and-a-half to load, so we have allowed two days to undertake this record shipment,” he said.

“It’s a major logistic exercise that required additional members from our team to complete.”

The motor yachts’ delivery will be an express service to Fort Lauderdale with the ship bypassing two ports to be landed directly into Miami from Brisbane, instead of Riviera’s usual port of call in Savannah.

They are expected to arrive on October 20.

Mr Davison said such arrangements were rare.

“This rarely happens in commercial shipping, but with seven motor yachts on board occupying the space of up to 560 containers, it’s a significant cargo and thus has received express delivery status to the US,” he said.

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The company’s US-based team will offload the craft and transport them from Miami’s port to Fort Lauderdale for display at the boat show, the biggest international event of its kind in 2021.

Riviera owner Rodney Longhurst said a significant logistic effort had been required to make the sale a reality.

“We’re enormously proud of this achievement, our latest shipment to the United States and our largest ever to meet growing demand,” he said.

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Riviera owner Rodney Longhurst. Picture: Jerad Williams

“It’s especially pleasing that all the motor yachts will arrive in time for one of our biggest showcases of the year at Fort Lauderdale.”

It is the second major boat show for Rivera this year, following a display at the Cannes Yachting Festival in France in September.

Demand for high-end watercraft has been growing on the Gold Coast in recent years, with both Riviera and the Boat Works expanding their building facilities.