Well I see we have United Yacht Transport lashed to our deck! Welcome aboard! Here is a look, via drone, at their process of loading yachts onboard their vessels.
Warning for transport company "United Yacht Transport" We purchased a boat in Italy in January 2016. We contracted with United Yacht Transport (UYT) to ship the boat from Genoa, Italy to Ensenada, Mexico, with a stop and ship change in St. Thomas, USVI. We dealt with their Vice President, Vadim Yegudkin. Our loading date in Genoa was delayed, but otherwise the first leg of the transport and offloading went smoothly. The boat was offloaded in St. Thomas in December, 2016. Our contract stated that our second leg was to load between March and June, 2017. Because of our concerns about hurricane season, we had many discussions with Vadim about the availability of a ship for the second leg and we were assured that it was on their normal monthly schedule, and that there would be “no problem”. We stayed in contact with Vadim during our time in St. Thomas and let him know that the boat was packed up and ready to go in April. We were told that we would be on the May ship. Throughout May, we kept being told that the ship was delayed. Eventually we were told that there would be no May ship and that we would go on the June ship. Same thing happened in June. No ship. We were told July for sure. In July, again we were told that there would not be a ship, maybe August? It was now hurricane season. We had to have the boat hauled out of the water and stored on land until November (and our insurance costs rose). Of course we were hit directly by two Cat 5 hurricanes and the boat had $100,000 of damage. They did not have a November ship to Ensenada, or December, or January, or February. Finally, February, 2018 they offered to ship our boat to Florida first and then ship it to Ensenada. BUT WE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR AN ADDITIONAL $21,000 TO SHIP THE BOAT TO FLORIDA!!! After all the extra costs that we have suffered due to their lack of performance! Vadim had already offered to pay for our storage costs in St Thomas because of their delay (Of course they never paid anything). We declined to pay the additional $21,000 (who knows if they would have performed on the last trip to Ensenada) and contracted with another company (for $15,000) to deliver the boat to Florida, then paid to have the boat trucked to California. Their response to us was aggression and “sue us”. They are not honest businesspeople and did not make good on their contract to deliver the boat. STAY AWAY!!!
Well, they were a successor company to Yacht Path which left a trail of disaster and deceit. They claimed to be totally different but kept a principal of YP around quite a while. However, since then I haven't heard such as you encountered but I've often heard stories of delay and lack of available ships. Personally, I'd never select them as I'd pay the difference and to with Seven Star or their subsidiary DYT. Their dates are not ironclad but their delays are reasonable. That does bring me back to a question for you. Why did you choose United? I suspect because of price.
Yes, price was a major factor. Originally we were going to stop in Florida, but they offered going through St. Thomas and assured us they had a ship every month. We probably wouldn’t have had a problem going through Florida, but we did have great cruising in the BVI’s
Well, maybe next time you won't select based on price but will look at reputation and dependability. Perhaps a little due diligence in St. Thomas to confirm with locals that the ships are monthly and dependable. Don't bet on no problem going through Florida with them. Perhaps less but people still have problems. When you select based solely on price, you're looking for trouble. Did you ask United whose ships they intended to use and if they had those all scheduled? Seven Star is part of a company with 125 vessels of their own. Now, I'm sure in their mind they will argue that they did make good on the contract and point out all the outs their contract gives them. That's why they can be bold and tell you to sue because while they may have violated what you thought was agreed, the contract likely makes it clear they're not responsible. They would say you paid for and got transport to St. Thomas and that fulfilled their obligation.
One would query why a company would go into that business dealing with very expensive items and knowing that they are not really efficient and giving good value for money, surely some form of capital base is required and to risk that through poor performance would seem a counterproductive operation, perhaps the day of the quick return and then to bankruptcy is still with us and the population is captured by the "bargain" regardless of the possible risk.
