Consulate General of Panama 
TALKING ABOUT YACHTS
It is the summit the most rigid of the social elite's wealth and symbols of the world's greatest fortunes, called floating palaces, indispensable to the millionaires and billionaires the proudest to be, the Super, Mega and Gigayacht are the most visible signs of who is who, or who is rich and who is really rich.
It is easy to know, the answer lies in the superlatives: size, dimensions and accessories. Who is the owner, how big is it, how many floors does it has, how many crews it has, how many extras like helicopters or submarines have their palaces on the sea, or simply resuming: how much does it cost to have one and how much to ensure its maintenance are some of the aspect we discuss in this section.
However, when we see one of these giants, the ordinary person does not know how to call them, because this vocabulary is limited on 1% of the world population, known as the UHNW, the initials from Ultra High Net Worth, the individuals who have the minimal fortune of 30 million dollars, and this enjoy only 211 955 persons globally. (The numbers based on the Magazine The State of Wealth, Luxury and Yachting, Report de CAMPER&NICHOLSONS AND WEALTH X).
CLASIFICATION OF YACHT BY ITS DIMENSIONES
To start this glossary, we need to define each category and for that, the Specialists of the Nautical word in the Mediterranean call Flybridge or " Vedettes de Croisière Sportives " the small boats under the 18 meters with a main bridge and the living area below or an open surface on the upper part of the ship, they are recognized for their sporty and elegant lines, but also compact and easy to maneuver for 1 or 2 people, they are equally considered as Mediterranean style boats and are ideal for short excursion.
With the nickname of "Motor Luxury Yachts" we call those who measure 19 and 24 meters, they are perfect for family and large groups amusements, they are spacious and stable, designed for the greatest comfort on the sea, they are usually sailed by a permanent or seasonal crew of 2 to 4 members, and are equipped for entertainment and water sports.
It is only starting from 24 to 60 meters that we can talk about Superyacht, which requires a permanent crew and involves a high acquisition cost and the expensive accessories for the entertainment such as water sports equipment, Jacuzzis and cinema. The smallest size of 24 meters, allows a ship to participate in the Monaco Yacht Show, in the world of yachting, the most important event in Europe for the business of buying and selling everything related to the Superyacht, which is held every year at the end of September in Monte Carlo.
As this activity continues to grow, the sizes of these vessels too, called Megayacht, which reach the lengths greater than 60 meters long, are designed for exceptionally large groups or large families, including the professional crew of several full-time members and counting with all the possible luxuries such as swimming pools, discotheques, cinemas, conference rooms, gyms and spas, are built for long trips of several days and are able to move from one ocean to another in an autonomous way. We can find them easily in the Mediterranean in summer and in Caribbean or Persian Gulf during the winter.
The last known category, the largest and the most spectacular one, the most experienced experts and technicians call Gigayacht. The yachts more than 105 meters long, with one or two heliports and twice as many possible and imaginable luxuries. Only a few billionaires can say they own a Gigayacht, a vessel that in many legislations escapes the category of pleasure yachts by the number of passengers that exceed normal standards and are considered passenger ships. Actually, there is approximately 150 Gigayacht navigating through the most extraordinary and extravagant places of our planet, with pleasure or commercial purposes.
HOW MUCH DOES COST A YACHT?
The experts estimate as a base of approximate calculation, the one million euros per meter in length, but this amount can be doubled for the Super, Mega and Gigayachtes. Although, the final cost is rarely disclosed.
However, there is no need to allocate the annual cost of maintaining a luxury yacht, which could easily reach 10% of the purchase value only to cover the maintenance costs, which imply the value of the crew's salary which may vary between 3 to 4 employees for a Superyacht and of 12 to 15 employees for a Megayacht of 60 meters, salaries may vary according to the position of the seafarers. You should also consider the cost of the fuel, which can be between 300 to 500 liters per hour depending on the cruise speed of an average Megayacht. Another important expense of lies in the payment for a marina or dock, which can range between 1000 to 3000 euros per day. For a medium-sized yacht, which means several million euros a year if you choose a high-ranged marina, such as the Quay of the millionaires in Antibes located on the French Côte d'Azur, with heliport and private luxury services for its most demanding users.
WHAT FLAG TO CHOOSE?
Everyone asks the same question, which Register or Flag to choose. There are very few yachts that use the pavilion of the nationality of their owner, and this is mostly due to multiple criteria: as the fiscal residence and the nationality of the owner, according to the legal structure that the yacht will have; the geographical area where he will regularly sail or the type of use that the ship will have, whether pleasure or commercial, such as a luxury charter for definite time and complete services, prohibited in some legislations; the legislation that will be applied in the technical sense, such as certifications and mixed records, security and fiscal aspects, including everything that applies to the crew, such as labor and safety regulations at sea. All these factors come into play at the moment when the owner, the yacht owner or the builder, must make the decision to choose the flag of a particular State.
Quickly depreciable, up to 30% after the first 3 years entering the market, it has to be clear that a yacht is not an investment, but an expense. It also suffers from market crises or stock rates. However, ordering to build a custom yacht can take many years of waiting, and in that waiting period many fortunes can succumb, therefore the other participants as insurance companies and banks may intervene, but usually, the great fortunes they self-finance their yachts.
Finally, choosing a secure and transparent Registry is the key to guarantee the ownership of a yacht of these dimensions and costs, which is a modern trend, unless it is intended to the contrary, hiding who is the owner.
In short, yachts represent floating riches and are sources of wealth in the places they choose as a dock. They are true poles of employment, services, sales of products and goods, perishable and imperishable. To see a yacht as the fortune of a single person, it means to not take into consideration what it represents for a huge number of people working for them, from the biggest builder to the smallest, the designer, engineers and inventors that make possible that every day we are stunned by the impression and say WOW to see one, and France has taken an advantage of this opportunity in famous docks like Cannes, Nice, Saint Tropez and Antibes, located in beautiful cities of the Mediterranean.
