Sensation Yachts
2017-23 | Salvaged a Super yacht | Greatest Salvage in History
It’s not every day you come across a half built super yacht on the salvage list of a demolition site. In 2017 that’s exactly what happened. The West Auckland based company “Sensation Yachts” fell into receivership 8 years prior to our 2017 introduction to the project. 3 half built Super Yachts were left abandoned ever since. Two of the Yachts weren’t as far along in their build and reluctantly had to be demolished. The clear jewel amongst the ruin, SY32 was too incredible to let go to waste. Ward took a sizable risk and paid for its relocation and storage into the neighbouring shed, so the sites demolition could commence.
Wardy’s Ark
The 49.5 metre super yacht nervously sat on the West Auckland job site surrounded by the orange Hyundai Wolves as Peter Ward threatened to demolish it if a buyer could not be located. The half built boat was estimated to be worth $18 million in the state in which it sat yet it lay abandoned in a shed for multiple years. The news of this quest went viral, first on Facebook then Stuff.co.nz where you can read more details HERE.
The magnificent yacht held too much potential to simply go to waste, it isn’t the Ward way, but we’re not boat builders we specialise in quite the opposite. The finished super yacht would weigh a staggering 280 tonnes and could accomodate 12 guests. Not your average fishing boat and it definitely won’t fit on your car trailer. So we were thrilled when it was purchased to be completed.
What we do best
Breaking things. The two other super yachts met their demise in the form of our Team of 13 and our large diggers. The big boats were in bad shape and the boys put them out of their misery as well as the 4 large buildings surrounding them. Being mostly steel sheds the recycle rate for this job was right up where we like it with 100% of this steel recycled.
Launching My Sensation -2023
5 years later and we had the pleasure of assisting its new owner in launching the Yacht into the Auckland harbour. An immense amount of time, effort and dedication went into saving this beautiful yacht from destruction and we are incredibly proud to see it live out its purpose.
It took a year and a half to redesign the Super Yacht to modernize it and meet updated regulations. Since then, the building process has faced brutal setbacks including, countless Covid Lockdown stalls, large delays when importing parts and a depleted NZ Super Yacht building industry. However, during the 2.5 years of build time the engine room has been put in place, the top piece put on and extended, hull reshaped and entire insides gutted and reframed. Today’s Yacht looks nearly unrecognizable. The vision is clear, the end is in sight, but it’s still an estimated 18 months off completion.
Unfortunately, the reality of finishing the project in New Zealand within budget has become highly implausible. As the Yacht building industry in NZ is catastrophically depleted. The best solution was to launch the unfinished Yacht and barge it across the Tasman Sea to Brisbane, Australia. The relocation provided more manpower and easier accessibility to parts and materials.
In 2022, just before Christmas, Ward had the pleasure of assisting in the launching of SY32 into the Auckland Harbour. Tyler Ward, who was part of the original 2017 Demolition team, spent multiple days meticulously preparing the ramp. On December 28th 2022 we were honored to witness the launch of the Super yacht. Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage did an incredible job using four trucks and a custom-built trailer, they successfully rolled the Super yacht out of the shed and launched it into Henderson Creek, where it was barged down to the Auckland Harbour. From there is was loaded onto the Yacht Express, before making its Voyage across the Tasman sea. A remarkable end to its life here in New Zealand but merely the start of its journey.
Ward Demolition completed the final tidy up in 2023, concluding our involvement in the project. This is an incredible outcome, the 2017 structure was on the chopping block for destruction, most of the materials would have ended up in landfill. An unimaginable fate that further fuelled the search effort for a buyer. It was obvious an immense number of hours and incredible workmanship went into the then abandoned Yacht. We are grateful to see it has not gone to waste. As much as we love demolition, we were happy to sit this one out.
About 80% of today's Yacht came from the original 49.5 metre Super Yacht we salvaged in 2017, the further 20% is new additions built onto the original structure. 100% of the original Yacht has been salvaged. The parts that aren’t being used are accompanying the vessel to Australia where they will be sold to other boat builders for further use. Both engines are the originals and only required servicing and minor repairs. Many of the original cabinets were repurposed in the redesign and any scrap materials went to the local recycling yard.
