Megayachts repaired, refurbished at Derecktor Shipyards in Fort Pierce

The mobile boat hoist is capable of lifting yachts up to 1,500 tons.
Derecktor services more than 80 megayachts in a given year.
Derecktor won a 30-year, $37 million contract to operate a shipyard here.
Derecktor’s Foreign-Trade Zone distinction alleviates import duties and taxes.

FORT PIERCE — Derecktor Shipyards repairs, renovates, refurbishes and refuels some of the world’s most expensive yachts. The megayacht Bold, notably, was docked at Derecktor last month for refueling following the 2025 Palm Beach International Boat Show.

Bold, known for its distinct naval appearance, was considered among yacht enthusiasts to be the flagship entry of the annual event and was called the “granddaddy of them all” by the Palm Beach Post.

The $89 million, nearly 280-foot-long Bold is large enough to land a helicopter on its aft-deck helipad. Owned by European entrepreneur Guido Krass, it’s available to charter. If you have $944,000 to spare, you can charter the Bold for a week.

Bold left Port of Fort Pierce heading for the Bahamas and, afterward, will chart a course to the Mediterranean Sea for its summer cruising season, Capt. Benn Weatherseed said.

Derecktor Shipyards

Bold isn’t even the most expensive megayacht that’s passed through the shipyard since Derecktor won a 30-year, $37 million contract from St. Lucie County in May 2019 to operate a megayacht repair center at the Port of Fort Pierce.

That distinction belongs to Infinity, a $300 million luxury megayacht owned by Eric Smidt, the owner of Harbor Freight, that was serviced here January 2023.

Derecktor was founded in 1947 by Bob Derecktor and has been family-owned since then. Fort Pierce is its fourth shipyard and its “most unique,” according to the company, as the facility here was designed specifically for megayachts longer than 200 feet and heavier than 900 tons.

By definition, a megayacht is a large, luxurious pleasure vessel more than 200 feet long and typically carrying a professional crew.

Derecktor, once it finishes paving its Fort Pierce shipyard, will be able to accommodate a dozen megayachts in the yard and as many as four in the water, according to spokesperson Carrie Bailey.

Like the Bold, several vessels from the Palm Beach Boat Show docked at Derecktor for refueling. Other yachts — such as the $71.4 million, 190-foot Come Together — had been hoisted out completely out of the sparkling sea-green inlet. Come Together was hauled out for maintenance, said Joel Shine, Derecktor’s chief commercial officer.

“We are one of the few places that is capable of lifting them,” said Shine, of Vero Beach.

A $6.5 million mobile boat hoist is the centerpiece of Derecktor’s shipyard operations. At 85 feet tall — towering 20 feet higher than South Bridge — it was the largest mobile boat hoist in the world when it was built.

It typically costs about $25,000 to lift a 900-ton yacht out from the water for repairs, Shine said. The boat hoist has a hauling capacity of 1,500 tons — or eight Boeing 747 jumbo jets, Bailey said.

“The biggest yacht we have hauled so far was 1,300 tons … and some change,” Shine said regarding the record lift of the Coral Ocean in 2022. “That was the largest yacht ever lifted with straps. Ever.”

The engineering ability to hoist yachts from the sea onto land, using straps, for major repairs is what draws yachts around the world to Derecktor — that and Derecktor’s Foreign-Trade Zone distinction, which alleviates duties and taxes on imported boat parts and foreign-built yachts.

There have been 84 vessels visit Derecktor in Fort Pierce in the past year, Shine said.

Getting the yachts out of the water makes it easier for repairs, especially beneath the waterline. Derecktor has about 30 full-time employees, and major repairs can require additional subtractors. Large projects sometimes call for about 150 workers in the yard, Shine said.

“The valve work, the tank work and driveline work all have to be done out of the water,” Shine said. “And that’s what we specialize in.”

A yacht’s driveline connects the transmission to the propeller, transferring engine power to produce thrust, he explained. Typical work that happens in the yard ranges from driveline repairs to work on propellers and shafts and sometimes even major welding and steel fabrication services.

“It’s like going to get your oil changed,” Shine said. “And then they tell you about all the other things you need to have done.”

Derecktor’s local economic impact

Derecktor has made multi-million-dollar investments on the county-owned property and drives the local economy through expenditures and payroll, Shine said. They include: