You’re Not Going To Believe This!

As you are aware, the last and only update from YachtPath said the planned arrival of PAC Athena into Port Everglades was November 29th with loading taking place on the 30th.

When I checked online last evening, this site showed that PAC Athena left New Orleans around noon on Thanksgiving.

PAC Athena Leaving New Orleans headed south. 

Of particular concern is that the destination is listed as Panama with an arrival date of November 28th. I doubt the vessel would go to Panama and then return to Port Everglades. If this information is correct, it would appear the November shipping of OceanFlyer is not going to happen.

I have called all my contacts at YachtPath and no one is in the office and no one is returning any of my voice mails.

At this point, my frustration is indescribable. If anyone has a trick to get accurate information on PAC Athena’s schedule, I would be most appreciative of your help.

Having exhausted all my contacts I reached out to my two boat brokers to see if they had any ideas for get information. Not long after I send out my plea, Steve Fithian of HMY sent me a text. It seems Steve has a “Secret number” that will actually get answered by YachtPath. He was able to confirm my suspicions that the owner of PAC Athena decided to bypass Port Everglades to try to get back on schedule.

He further relayed that YachtPath had identified another ship that should load on or about December 5. The rub is that this is a smaller vessel and there is no room for all the boats previously scheduled for PAC Athena. Steve made a point of how important it was to him, HMY Yachts and Grand Banks, Inc. (all good clients of YachtPath) that OceanFlyer get on this new vessel. Here’s hoping his leverage will work. I’m also working with my other broker, Scott Blake of NW Explorations to apply some pressure. He is about to close on another Grand Banks in Fort Lauderdale and I’m hoping we can use that as a wedge to secure a place on the December 5th vessel.

Realize that all of this is second hand information because YachtPath has not been forthcoming with any updates or changes. What a lot of drama for what should be a simple logistic transaction.