DYT Returns Yacht Express and Yacht Servant to Service After Tuzla Yard Period

DYT Yacht Transport has returned its two semi-submersible yacht carriers, Yacht Express and Yacht Servant, to service after a planned summer yard period at GEMAK Shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey. The programme combined class surveys, preventive maintenance and efficiency-focused upgrades as the specialist transport operator prepared both vessels for its fall sailing schedule.

Yacht Express completed a five-year class survey

The summer maintenance window included routine planned work and a five-year class survey for Yacht Express. Class surveys are major operational milestones for commercial vessels, covering structural condition, machinery, safety systems and regulatory compliance as part of the process required to remain in service.

DYT scheduled the work between its spring and fall transport programmes, allowing the carrier to enter drydock without disrupting the fixed sailing schedules used by yacht owners, captains and brokers moving vessels between seasonal cruising regions. That timing protects fleet availability and customer delivery commitments.

Yacht Servant received efficiency-focused upgrades

Yacht Servant completed her first five-year class survey during the same yard period. DYT also used the opportunity to apply a biocide-free silicone-based hull coating and performance coatings to the propellers, changes intended to reduce resistance through the water and improve operating efficiency.

For a semi-submersible heavy transport vessel, hull condition and propulsion efficiency directly affect fuel consumption over long ocean passages. The upgrades therefore have both an operating-cost and emissions component rather than being purely cosmetic maintenance.

GEMAK supported the specialised drydock programme

The work was carried out at GEMAK Shipyard in Tuzla, a large commercial repair facility with the drydock capacity and technical infrastructure required for vessels of this size. DYT’s technical department coordinated the project with vessel crews, classification surveyors, external inspectors and shipyard teams.

The maintenance scope extended beyond the carriers themselves. Transport cradles and supporting equipment used during float-on, float-off loading were also inspected, with components replaced where they had reached the end of their service life.

Fall schedules resume with both carriers back in service

Planning for the yard period began well before arrival in Turkey, with DYT working backwards from the start of the fall season to coordinate yard availability, survey requirements, contractors, materials and repositioning dates. The schedule was therefore treated as an operational constraint from the start of the project.

Both carriers have now returned to operation. For the superyacht market, dedicated transport vessels such as Yacht Express and Yacht Servant form part of the logistics infrastructure that allows yachts to shift between Mediterranean, Caribbean and other cruising regions without adding unnecessary engine hours or passage time to the yacht itself. It also reduces wear on the yacht and keeps crew available for owner operations rather than delivery passages.

Official sources: www.yacht-transport.com.