The Internet has redefined and some would say reinvented many things. Yacht charter is one of them. In recent years a slew of start ups have tried to do for chartering what AirBnB has done for holiday home rentals.
The likes of Ahoy and Yotha have, to say the very least, upset the apple cart set out by traditional yacht brokerage houses. They have slashed typical commission rates and have they say made chartering more accessible.
To date charter brokers have done little except slam the new comers for being inept at the job and suggesting that their own traditional business model is the only way forward.
Bucking the trend
But bucking that trend, Ocean Independence a company founded in 2005 has partnered with the on line yacht charter platform, Borrow A Boat to create Borrow A Boat Plus.
It is, says Toby Maclaurin the Sales & Marketing Director for Ocean Independence, “an innovative approach to the question of evolution within the charter market, towards an end goal. Working alongside a technology leader whilst retaining the essential elements of high quality, expert advice, depth of knowledge plus financial security will ultimately result in being of the greatest benefit to the consumer.”
Operating from 15 offices around the world, with 115 staff speaking 24 different languages between them, Ocean Independence is a full-service superyacht brokerage company. They specialise in yacht sales, charter, new build and management. One of the fastest-growing companies in the luxury-yachting sector, it has the largest crewed charter fleet in the world and a team that combines more years of marine expertise than any other brokerage company globally
New partnership
The new partnership within the marine marketplace combines the key elements and benefits of a digital platform and superyacht central agent; the objective being to offer clients an unprecedented resource giving choice, versatility and insight to boat, yacht and superyacht charter.
Now featuring over 100 superyachts from the Ocean Independence global fleet, Borrow A Boat Plus will provide access to fully crewed luxury charters in a wide range of sizes, styles and locations.
Yacht charter sharing economy.
Borrow A Boat launched publicly at the London Boat Show in 2017, having been started in the year preceding that. Since then it has been growing, having completed two successful rounds of crowdfunding in a bid to cement a position at the forefront of the new yacht charter sharing economy.
Borrow A Boat CEO Matt Ovenden commented “We are excited to offer this new range of luxury crewed and catered boats around the world, and through our partnership with Ocean Independence this allows us to help realise our goal of becoming the most inclusive, accessible boating platform worldwide. Relying on the experience and wealth of knowledge of Ocean Independence in this market, our customers can now have their ultimate dream vacation on the water, at both ends of the spectrum and all points of the compass!”