On April 16, the County and Derecktor Shipyards announced that they signed a long-term agreement for the development and operation of a megayacht maintenance, repair and refit facility at the Port Of Ft. Pierce, Florida.
The new shipyard will be the first facility in the US designed and built specifically to accommodate power and sailing yachts in the 200 ft. plus range. Until today, these large yachts, especially sailing vessels which require extreme overhead clearance and considerable water depth, have had few or no shipyard options in the US.
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Derecktor Ft. Pierce (DFP), as the new yard will be called, will be providing direct access from the Atlantic through Ft. Pierce inlet, with no overhead obstructions and a maintained depth of 28ft. (8 meters).
In addition, the yard will include a concrete apron of over 8 acres, providing ample work and storage area, along with more than 1000 linear feet of deep water dockage. An existing large building will also be refitted to house machine, wood, pipe and electrical shops along with other service support activity.
What is more, vessel hauling will be achieved through both a mobile lift and a drydock. The lift is expected to have a 1500 ton capacity, making it the largest in the world. The lift is planned to be up and running by fall of 2020. The drydock will start operations after the lift, and is projected to be able to accommodate vessels up to 4000 tons.
The infrastructure improvements will start as soon as permits are granted, with DFP bringing in ships for dockside work in the near future.
Paul Derecktor President of Derecktor Shipyards, stated:
“It’s been great to get to know the area and some of the people here while working on the agreement with the County. We can’t wait to get the yard up and running and show the yachting world what Derecktor Ft. Pierce and the Treasure Coast have to offer
