“Gold faucets in the shape of a parrot, silk carpet in 232 color shades, carbon accommodation ladders and swimming pools whose outline follows the letters of a first name…” This is not a dream following a Euromillions win, but what Die time came to admire at the Monaco Yacht Show, one of the most important specialized fairs in the world, which was held from September 28 to 1is October in the principality. A place where exhibitors compete in the luxury and length categories. “Only flying is better – oh no, you can also take off from a mega-yacht”, ironically the Hamburg weekly from the subtitle of its article.
The newspaper came to discover this world of luxury yachts, made from the finest materials, where almost no demand remains unsatisfied. And the event seems to him “completely cut off from reality” – that’s the title. Like other luxury segments, the yacht economy is booming. The total market value of the objects on display in Monaco is in the tens of billions of euros. The waiting time for the delivery of a boat is at least eighteen months, due to the high demand, but also to the lack of certain building materials. The weekly observes:
“The global energy crisis is not perceptible in the principality, and poverty even less so. Monaco is therefore the ideal place for a Yacht Show, even if it seems perfectly out of place in the midst of the war in Ukraine, while inflation and the energy crisis are raging. We are constantly told that the Russians are always solvent; if someone still defaults, we put their project on hold.”
Cynicism
In addition to the economic context, there is another, climatic. The notion of “sustainability” is one of the stated priorities of the organizers, assures the weekly. An untenable promise given the products offered. The trend is towards gigantism. If a ship 50 meters long was still a “mega-yacht” in the 2000s, today it should exceed 100 meters. And the journalist specializing in climate issues adds:
“This Monegasque greenwashing could be funny if it weren’t so tragic. Building a yacht requires a lot of energy, and its materials come from all over the world. Moreover, the ships are made of aluminium, which is not good for the climate, paneled with tropical woods, decorated with heavy marble. Once on the water, this type of yacht consumes a huge amount of fuel, usually diesel. The solar coffee maker on board is almost cynical.”
Finally, there remains a question undoubtedly considered vulgar in this exhibition populated by“men in white shirts and immaculate moccasins, women in short skirts and high heels” : that of the employees. An 85-meter-long boat accommodates an average of 12 yachtsmen, for whom 26 employees work. “No one wanted to tell us where and how they slept, and how much they earned.”