Refit specialists assess current state of global refit market

A BOATPro roundtable with Manuel Di Tillio, technical and sales director at Amico & Co; Gianni Paladino, commercial director at Lusben; and Txema Rubio, commercial director at MB92 Group, set out how the refit market is changing under capacity pressure. The panel framed the issue around three core concerns: current refit capacity pressures, workflow changes and how yards are adapting, and they concluded these trends are reshaping the calendar for owners and crews.

BOATPro notes that the global superyacht fleet has grown by 38.7 per cent within the past decade, and that growth is behind much of the squeeze on yard slots and skilled labour. Where refits were once treated as occasional interruptions dictated by ageing systems, the discussion described a movement toward making refit work more routine and structured to fit an expanding fleet with limited dockspace and dockside resources.

The practical impact is immediate. Owners, captains and project managers should expect booking windows to tighten and to see yards change their workflows to manage higher throughput. The roundtable identified six key themes that emerged from the discussion, indicating multiple pressure points and adjustment strategies across the market, although the specific themes are summarised in the roundtable itself. The participants named in the discussion represent yards and refit specialists active across major refit hubs, and their collective view gives a snapshot of industry-level trends rather than a single-yard case study.

For DIY-minded owners and captain-led refits, the takeaway is simple: plan earlier, lock in refit scopes sooner, and factor yard availability into maintenance cycles rather than treating refits as reactive repairs. That approach reduces the risk of long waitlists and rushed work when windows finally open. Planning should also include contingency for parts lead times and for coordinating specialist trades, since labour and berthing capacity are the pinch points highlighted by the panel.

Next steps for the community include following the full roundtable for the detailed six themes and specific measures yards are taking to adapt. For now, Manuel Di Tillio, Gianni Paladino and Txema Rubio have signalled a market shift that changes how owners schedule maintenance and capital refits. Expect refit planning to look more like a maintenance regime and less like occasional interruption as yards and owners adjust to a bigger fleet and fewer empty berths.