I am so tired from all my weekend activities to write anything tonight so I am just going to leave you with the press release from Rolls-Royce Marine : they decided to enter the megayachts market to meet the global demand and help the poor wealthy people who have been waiting for their luxury yacht for too long : )

European shipyards are backed up with megayacht orders, charging up to $1 million per foot for yachts over 250’, and with customers waiting 6 years for delivery due to a dearth of building capacity. To help meet this demand, Rolls-Royce Marine has been contracted by a consortium of American shipbuilders led by Atlantic Yachts and its CEO Paul Madden, the former North American representative for Blohm+Voss – Germany’s ‘über’ yacht builder specializing in megayachts from 300-feet, to over 500-feet in length.

The US-built megayachts are European-designed. With the Dollar-Euro advantage, combined with US shipyard capacities, the megayachts will cost one-third less, and can be delivered in half the time as the European-built megayachts.

“Our core management were recruited from the top European shipyards, and we enlist sub-contractors from both sides of the Atlantic,” reports CEO Paul Madden. “This is a classic technology and design transfer from Europe to the US, where we currently have a significant advantage in the manufacture of sophisticated equipment, such as large steel motor yachts. We are using the same shipyards that build the next-generation US Navy ships.”

Rolls-Royce Marine is working in concert with several top European yacht designers, providing engineering and integrated power, propulsion and stability systems on all of Atlantic’s US-built yachts.

Rolls-Royce’s Marine Division provides engineering and equipment on 20,000 commercial and naval vessels operating around the world, ranging from nuclear submarines to megayachts. They also provide ongoing warranty and unparalleled service from Rolls-Royce’s 40 offices in 30 countries.

The venture plans to deliver 2 to 3 megayachts per year, representing over a half billion dollars in gross sales annually. The customer list can not be discussed, according to Madden. “Suffice it to say that they are high-net-worth individuals who value discretion.”

The company does not advertise. Its phone number is unlisted. “We only deal directly with owners and their designers and technical teams,” states Madden. “Rest assured, our clients have my cell number. And they are not shy about calling, day or night…”