Ian Malouf says superyacht sales are holding up despite economic worries

There’s still money out there says billionaire Ian Malouf, who just sold $20m in superyachts and extended the European season for his Coral Ocean luxury boat that rents for over $1m per week.

Billionaire Ian Malouf has $20m reasons to show the superyacht market is still strong, despite rising interest rates and a slowing economy.

Malouf’s Ahoy Club yacht chartering and sales business auction offloaded about $20m worth of vessels last week, with some sold for higher than expected prices and others selling “for within 10 per cent of what we thought they would go for”, according to Malouf.

The auction last weekend included boats like Chaos, a 30m boat that can sleep 10 guests and cruise with 36 for a cocktail event, and other small vessels.

Malouf says the sales show the superyacht market is “normalising” and that buyers and sellers “are being sensible about what they’re paying for and asking for” after several years of pent-up demand due to Covid lockdown is offsetting any spending concerns.

“There’s money still out there, and people are still looking to buy boats and they’re still wanting to travel as well,” Malouf says.

His Ahoy Club merged with the Ray White Marine boat sales company in July, adding luxury boat dealerships and distribution rights to his growing superyacht chartering business.

Figures supplied by the combined company show there are currently 1280 superyachts for sale, with 39 sold in July – an eight per cent increase from the same time a year ago. There were 43 yachts listed for sale in July, up 48 per cent from the same month in 2022, and 20 have had their price reduced, compared with 10 a year ago.

Malouf’s biggest boat is his $100m, 73m Coral Ocean, featuring a spa pool, private treatment room with infra-red sauna, teppanyaki grill, indoor-outdoor gym and an on-board beauty therapist.

It is currently sailing in the Mediterranean, where it is chartered for 650,000 euros ($1.09m) per week, and Malouf says such has been demand for it that its season has been extended past the European summer to late October.

“It has really been put to work and while some bookings have been pretty late, there has been stronger demand than before,” Malouf says. “To put it to work through to October 23 is very impressive, and shows there’s still money around. There’s been a lot of Americans who have chartered, which is an increasingly good market for us.”

Revenue for Coral Ocean should be about $14m annually, Malouf says. Picture: Ahoy Club/Supplied

Malouf is Australia’s superyacht king, but made his fortune from his Dial-a-Dump waste management business that he started in 1984 with a single truck and shovel before a $577m cash and shares sale to Bingo Industries in 2021.

He and his family own 10 other yachts that average about 30m in length – including the 54m superyacht Mischief that is now usually based in Sydney.

Revenue for Coral Ocean should be about $14m annually, which is more than for a lot of other boats, Malouf told The Australian in March for a feature story in the 2023 edition of the Richest 250.

When Malouf got access to the boat, he says he too had to pay his own way. Destinations included the Monaco Grand Prix, the Cannes film festival, Sardinia and St Tropez, and there have already been strong interest for the 2024 season next April.

“Before we got it (in 2019), it was going for €350,000 per week,” Malouf says. “We were going to spend €5 million on a refit but decided to go for a big refurbishment for €35 million. But the amount we’re getting for it now shows that sort of investment can pay off.”

Malouf’s other popular boat is Mischief, the only superyacht in Australia with six cabins and room for 100 guests, and is chartered for $360,000 per week.

Malouf says it currently being chartered around the South Pacific, including stops in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, before heading to Papua New Guinea.