Cape Town will have six superyacht berths at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront has confirmed.
Details of the V&A’s much-anticipated superyacht basin emerged at this month’s African Boating Conference, attended by around 200 boating industry stakeholders, among them the V&A’s Executive for Marine and Industrial, Andre Blaine.
Superyacht visits to Cape Town have increased in recent years due partly to insecurity in the Red Sea but also due to interest in Indian Ocean superyacht destinations. Cape Town is also actively marketing itself as a superyacht destination, both for repairs and maintenance, and as a springboard to other destinations.
Local marine stakeholders welcome the V&A’s investment in superyacht infrastructure as having a positive impact on the broader ‘blue economy’. “The adoption of a superyacht strategy for Southern African and the Indian Ocean Islands, and the intention to form a working group to take this work forward, are critical steps,” commented SABBEX executive head Vanessa Davidson, also co-director of BlueCape. “We have received very positive feedback from the Indian Ocean island businesses, and there is definitely positive momentum for regional solutions where we can leverage each of the key selling points of the Indian Ocean destinations, whilst creating “stepping stones” on a route that will serve both the owners and crew requirements of superyachts,” Davidson said.
She commended the V&A for their ongoing investment in the blue economy and thanked Veda Pretorius of Superyacht Cape Town for spearheading the project to create an African and Indian Ocean Island Superyacht Route.