b'10American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comThe highly specialized business ofBREAKBULK QUARTERLYtransporting yachtsMiami-based Florida Maritime Transport (FMT) moves yachts all over the world. And as Founder and CEO Dmitry Faber explainsinanexclusiveinterviewwith AJOT, it is a highly specialized niche of the heavy lift/project cargo market. By George Lauriat, AJOTAJOT: When you went into business for your-self in 2012, do you remember putting together your first voyage for yacht transport? Dmitry Faber: Yes, it was Fall of 2012. We hired from SAL a heavy lift vessel and loaded 3 boats from Port Everglades to Korea which were Inace 85 trawler, Azimut 80 and Magnum 55 speed boat. Interestingly enough, I did not have experience in chartering and the clauses where yacht transporters usuallyinformthe shipownersthatno otheryachtsbooked byother[transport-ers]are allowed to be loaded on the vessel andallyachtbook-ings for the ship have to go though charter party. So, Rick Gla-dych with Raven off-shore loaded 5 other boatsonthesame Dmitry Faber vessel, and I was sur-prised, as we paid for port call. And he was happy to [be able to] load his boats as well. In our indus-try, if you do not put a clause that yacht bookings on your voyage have to be booked through Charter party only, you lose marketing advantage and com-petition will try to load other yachts against you on the same vessel.AJOT: Is there a seasonal cycle to yacht trans-port or is it a fairly consistent business year round?Secondarily, are there certain key trade lanes in the yacht transport business?Dmitry Faber: Yes, yachts head from Florida and the Caribbean to the Med (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Adriatic) between March to June and comingbackfromMed/Adriaticinthefallfrom September to December. Same with North Americain the spring yachts head to the Pacific Northwest, Mexico and California for the summer and in the fall coming back to Florida and the Caribbean. We have had 4 sailings in/out of Great Lakes from Florida departing in May/offloading in Sarnia, Ontario and coming back in September/October to bring yachts backwhocruisetheGreatLakesinthesummer. The Great Lakes offers some of the best cruising in the summer around Mackinac Island, Petoskey, MI. With places like Bay Harbor Yacht Club, where most of our yacht owners hang out and have slips in the summer and in the winter. They like Ocean Reef Club in the Florida Keys. We had been blessed to work with Jordan Tilton of JTA Yacht Deliveries and Consulting who grew upHEAVY LIFTINGin the Midwest and has been offering crew delivery services to many yacht owners in/out of Great LakesDONE RIGHTviaStLawrenceSeaway,ErieCanalorHudson River north and south. Jordan and I became great friends, and we offer clients the option to ride the ship or have Jordans crew deliver yachts on their own bottom. For those fortunate enough to be in Europe, cruising Balearic Sea, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea between Spain/Italy/Greece/Turkey/Slovenia isOur cargo-handling capabilities save time and money. some of the best in the world. Pacific Northwest hasLet the port thatworksput good effort into attracting more yachts for the be your gateway to North America and beyond. summer here and had done well with trade shows. Special thanks go to Northwest Yacht Brokers Asso-ciation who had been very active with promoting yachting in the Pacific Northwest and doing a great1000 Foust Road, Brownsville, TX 78521job advocating with the city and state municipalities(956) 831-4592(800) 378-5395for boating rights and infrastructure. FMT opened an office in Seattle in 2022 and has enjoyed beingportofbrownsville.compart of PNW culture. (SPECIALIZEDcontinued on page 15)'