The IMS 700 superyacht repair yard in the South of France has taken in its first boat as work on the site nears completion.
The boat was Sister Act, a 43.25 metre Heesen, captained by Cyril Catania.
The IMS Shipyard already runs IMS 300, a major repair and maintenance yard on the Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer peninsular, across the water from the port of Toulon. The new IMS 700 yard will be a few miles further east on the peninsular and will make IMS the largest repair operation in the Mediterranean. Overall the two sites will comprise 77,000 square metres of wharf, including 20,000 square metres of sheds. A total of 75 dry slots will be available, 35 of them within dry sheds. Together, the two IMS sites will be able to take 100 yachts simultaneously.
There are 320 tonne and 670 tonne travel lifts – the 670 tonne lift was responsible for IMS 700's first lift-out, on 10 December. Haul-outs were to continue over the week to satisfy demand, as a partial opening of the site. Meanwhile, the final phase of building work continues on the IMS 700 site, which will cater for boats from 20m to 80m, and should be completed in March.
Aside from its extensive repair and refit facilities, the yard offers space devoted to crews, with a gym, multimedia room, rest area, terrace and BBQ and private sea access.
The nine-month project so far has seen 2,700 cubic metres of earth removed and reused, almost 8,000 tonnes of asphalt laid on the hard-standing area and nearly 8km of cable sheaths created for the myriad cables to be run around the site.
Denis Pellegrino, President of IMS Shipyard, said, “We have had 80 people working full time on the site, which is 20,000 working hours until the completion of the shipyard and we are doubling our in-house staff. This is a rare and extremely stimulating development project for all of us. We are proud to have successfully completed the first stage of the challenge. This is just the beginning!”