Derecktor Fort Pierce Opening Announced at FLIBS

The official announcement held that not only is Derecktor Fort Pierce now accepting dockside work and offering pierage to superyachts, but that the yard will also feature a 1,500 metric ton mobile lift – estimated for completion in 2020. When complete, this lift will be the largest of its kind in the world, marking an incredible milestone for the esteemed yard.

The project’s roots trace back to early 2018, when a request was issued by St Lucie County for qualifications from biggers on a major superyacht repair and refit shipyard. Derecktor was then selected to develop and operate the facility, after thorough and extensive evaluation.

When fully completed, the shipyard will be unique to the U.S. – bolstering America’s reputation as a world leader in the field of superyacht refit. We are reminded of our conversation with James Brewer, Business Development at Derecktor, earlier this year when discussing the approach the company is taking in promoting not just themselves but the region as a whole. His comment, “Our capabilities are unmatched and I would suggest any reader to strongly consider the US as a refit destination,” is only reinforced further still in light of this latest announcement.

In keeping with an industry consistently building bigger, this will be the first facility designed and built specifically to cater for yachts of 200 feet and over. This fills a significant niche in the market for shipyards options in the US for yachts of this size, which require extreme overhead clearance and considerable water depth. Derecktor Fort Pierce provides direct access from the Atlantic Ocean, without overhead obstruction and a consistent depth of 8 meters.

The yard itself features over 8 acres of concrete space, as well as over 1000 linear feet of deep-water dockage. Derecktor Fort Pierce will also be extremely flexible when it comes to the range of yachts it can handle, through the use of mobile lift and planned drydocks and augmented by the 1,500 ton capacity of the mobile lift.

“This is an exciting step forward for our company,'' commented Paul Derecktor, President of Derecktor Shipyards, in a statement. “This yard lets us bring in a whole new range of vessels. It opens a new market for us and, in large part, a new market for the U.S. We see great things ahead for Derecktor, for Fort Pierce and for the people of St. Lucie County.”

Derecktor is already renowned in the field of new build for producing America’s largest yacht – Aquila (formerly Cakewalk) in 2010. It has now well established itself as a firm leader in the refit field, and this reputation looks set to only solidify as operations commence at Derecktor Fort Pierce.