As poor countries continue to struggle with the Covid-19 crisis, the world’s super rich seem to be on superyacht-buying spree raising the propriety of such spending especially when there is so much pandemic-induced poverty all over the world. It also strengthened the argument that while all men are created equal some are luckier than others and that “we are not riding in the same boat”.
FOR the insanely rich, money is never a problem especially when buying expensive luxury toys like superyachts.
But that is not the case for developing countries that are struggling to find and allocate funds on their respective vaccination programs.
What was even more astounding was that the super rich’s spending on superyacht in the first five months of 2021 alone is reported to have reached around $1.5 billion; enough to aid nations with coronavirus vaccines.
According to Boat International, as the Covid-19 pandemic continue to push everyone into uncertainty, air travel restrictions, and national lockdowns, wealthy people are seeking other means to escape which surged the demands for superyachts.
One example for this is business magnate and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who bought a 417ft (127m) superyacht with a whopping price tag of $500 million. Moreover, an expert described Bezos’s yacht to be as vertically tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
“People have become even more committed to invest in yachting as it offers an escape from the pandemic,” said Paolo Casani, chief executive of Camper & Nicholsons.
Boat International noted that 50% of superyacht sales were recorded in the United States alone.
It also reported that the demand to buy superyachts started last year and has been on continuous rise, while they similarly forecast this year’s sales will set record-high figures in terms of second-hand purchases.
Describing a superyacht
The yachting industry defines a superyacht as vessels usually between 78ft (24m) to 200ft (60m) or longer in length and are sometimes manned by professional crew.
But the definition would still vary depending on the sellers.
Boat International editor-in-chief Stewart Campbell said a typical smaller and second-hand superyacht is priced around $1 million to $6 million and has a running cost of $244,000 for fuel, crew salary, and other fees.
These boats can be retrofitted based on the image and likeness of its buyers with amenities like spa pools, sun decks, gyms, or anything else they want to spend their money with.
Among the top three second-hand superyachts sold within the first half of 2021 were Solo, Elixir, and the Lady Sheridan which are priced around $76 million, $47 million, and $35 million respectively.
Raising moral dilemma
But for Kenyan-based charity organization, Oxfam, these figures were callous and indifferent to the current health crisis affecting much of the world despite being “on the same boat”.
They said that the money spent for these yachts are more than enough for some developing countries to be able to buy vaccines for their population; citing the moral responsibility of the wealthy people on these trying times.
"It is obscene—a sign of a world that has its priorities badly wrong—that with so much wealth around poor countries cannot get the vaccines they need to protect their people," said Max Lawson, head of inequality policy at Oxfam International.
"The £1 billion spent in the last year by billionaires on superyachts is more than the cost of fully vaccinating a country like Nepal, where Covid-19 is inflicting a terrible toll,” he emphasized.
(JT)
Tags: #wealthinequality, #Covid19, #yachts, #billionaires