I am considering using them to ship my boat. Please let me know your experiences with them. Thanks in advance!
I'm also evaluating a new P&M contract right now. So far I've been happy with the very professional discussions.
I believe UYT is affiliated with Dockwise (same parent company?).
Update:
I just booked with United Yacht transport. I found them to be professional. They were firm in their price until I did extensive research and found a cheaper price with one on the big companies. They matchrd the price.
My biggest issue is whether or not they will keep the time frame they committed to. Insurance company requires the boat out of Florida by June 1st. The sailing is supposed to be May 15-30. UYT competition tells me there is no ship scheduled for then. UYT tells me there is. I don’t know who to believe.
I hope it’s not a case of the ship continuing to get “delayed’. I essentially don’t have much of a choice at this point to rely on their word and move forward. I’ll keep you all posted.
Can folks who have done this talk about the price of their shipping. I keep hearing about last minute deals, or back-haul rates, but have yet to find any. Looking to ship to Europe.
Just bumping this thread to see if there is any update. Did United Yacht Transport deliver as promised? Has the boat been shipped? Any feedback at this point?
I have been mute on the topic because my boat was on the ship until this morning. I contracted with United Yacht Transport (UYT). I paid my non refundable deposit a couple of months before I was scheduled to ship my boat from Fort Lauderdale to Ensenada, Mexico. UYT does not accept a credit card.
I was very clear that for insurance reasons I needed to have my boat out of Florida by June 1st. Once I paid my deposit, the communications from UYT became almost non-existent. I was promised that there was a ship at the end of May and not to worry. As they continued to send their advertising emails there were no ships leaving Fort Lauderdale at the end of may. To make matters worse, we were in the Bahamas with limited communications with my representative.
The problem was that I had nowhere to put the boat once we arrived back to Fort Lauderdale. Additionally, we had a commitment that we had to fly back to California.
After weeks of no returned emails from my representative I called and ultimately I was transferred to the owner. He told me that my representative had been out of the office for two weeks. I told him that my expectation was that someone would be monitoring her emails so customers weren't left hanging. After providing a bunch of excuses, he finally agreed and said I could communicate directly with him.
As it turned out a ship that was scheduled to leave two weeks earlier was now going to fit perfectly within our window. We now had our target and we were able to firm up our plans. As the day drew closer I sent numerous emails asking how to prepare the boat. Do we open portholes to the shower to allow for ventilation? Do we zip up the Strataglass and button up the covers? What about the covers for the windows? Of course none of my emails were answered. I even did a youtube and internet search to see if there was any information. I found none.
As we tied up to the side of the ship, the guys told us that we should prepare the boat for the event of high winds. This meant we needed to remove all of the canvass and reverse all of the work we had done to prepare the boat. Of course the pilot of the water taxi is pressuring us to leave. I told him that I was not going to be rushed and that he could drop off the other people and come back if he wanted to, but I wasn't going to be rushed in preparing the boat.
We did get a form email while the boat was in transit from the shipping company. We were also able to follow the boat's progress on Marine Traffic. We were given the name of an agent in Ensenada (Fito Espinosa) who helped us through the import process. I emailed him all of the required paperwork. We made an appointment to arrive 24-hours before the boat arrived to complete all of the necessary paperwork.
We arrived at the agreed upon time and went to immigration, the port captain and completed the import process. I believe out total fees were around $300. We were told to present these to the ship representative when we picked up the boat.
We arrived this morning and were shuttled by panga to our boat. It was already on the side of the ship waiting for us. We climbed on the boat and turned on the engines. Eventually someone from the ship looked over the side. I asked him what he needed from us and he said nothing. We untied the lines and drove away. Kind of anticlimactic considering all of the paperwork we had to complete the day before.
The boat is in much better condition that I expected. I had read issues about rust stains etc, but thankfully we didn't experience any of that. It was covered in a heavy coat of salt, but not nearly what I had expected. I do have a crack in the gelcoat at the rub rail where I think the sling pushed on the side of the boat. I have to evaluate what I am going to do about it.
All in all the experience was pretty straightforward, but very stressful. The stress was caused because of the lack of communication and directions. This could have been easily avoided.
As I explained to the owner of UYT, people who have the disposable income to ship their toy across the world have their acts together. They are usually some type of business owner (or successful in some other endeavor). We are professionals who expect professional service and communication. I can say that UYT did not meet my expectations. I do not know if this is common for the industry and they can get away with it because of limited options.
It wouldn't take much for them to up their game. Customer service is about attitude and treating the customer the way you want to be treated. Unfortunately this does not seem to be a priority.
Well I finally got a good look at the boat and noticed a 36" gouge in the side of the boat. The crew on the ship repaired the damage but did a poor job with the gelcoat. There are also several other areas of damage that need to be addressed. I have an email out to United Yacht Transporters. I will update this post when I hear something back.
This is an older thread and there may have been changes in ownership at UYT that have interceded....there is a huge delta between Seven Stars and UYT quotes for South FL to Victoria/Vancouver BC....I am often a believe in 'you get what you pay for' but a savings of 30% is hard to pass up....wonder if there are any updates - more recent experiences with UYT ??
Oh we will be moving a new to us (pending survey) Bruckmann 50 motorsailer that we will be thrilled to get moving in PNW
Well I finally got a good look at the boat and noticed a 36" gouge in the side of the boat. The crew on the ship repaired the damage but did a poor job with the gelcoat. There are also several other areas of damage that need to be addressed. I have an email out to United Yacht Transporters. I will update this post when I hear something back.