Cape Town gives the long-way-round route its first base
Eight berths for 30 to 90 metres, open in November
On 16 July, Damen Shipyards Cape Town welded the first structural steel for six purpose-built floating pontoons at the Port of Cape Town, marking the official start of production. Damen reports the R230m project is roughly 45 percent complete and scheduled to finish on 31 October, with an official opening on 1 November. Managing Director Hermoine Manuel called it the yard's most technically advanced marina project to date.
For an owner, the number that matters is eight berths, six stern-to and two beam-on, sized for yachts from 30 to 90 metres, on floating jetties carrying power, water and Wi-Fi. It is local infrastructure rather than an imported showpiece, with Damen putting 76 percent of procurement spend into South African suppliers, a figure the V&A Waterfront leans on.
Why the Cape route needed a base
Cape Town sits on one of the last long-haul cruising legs without a dedicated superyacht marina, the passage between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean that owners take when they route the long way round rather than through the Red Sea. Traffic has grown steadily since 2009, and the V&A Waterfront says it welcomed 35 yachts in the 2024/25 season, many of them staying six months to a year.
The berths sit beside real yard capability. Quay 7 has direct access to the Syncrolift and the Robinson Dry Dock for repair and refit, and bonded fuel will be available at Elbow Quay through the FFS facility. For an owner weighing a southern-hemisphere winter or a slow circumnavigation, that mix of berth, fuel and dock in one precinct is the practical draw.
A Gold Anchor address at the Cape
Quay 7 is one piece of the R20 billion (about EUR 1bn) Granger Bay precinct expansion, and it will be the first Gold Anchor-accredited superyacht marina in the region. V&A Waterfront executive Andre Blaine framed the aim beyond leisure, describing the project as 'economic infrastructure.' CEO Graham Wood pointed to the steady growth in superyacht visits since 2009 as the reason he expects the berths to fill.
There is an off-season logic behind the eight berths too. When the yachts leave, the same water stages export and commissioning for Cape Town's catamaran builders, among them Robertson and Caine, Two Oceans Marine and Balance Catamarans. That dual use is what lets the V&A justify a superyacht base in a market that still counts its annual arrivals in the dozens, which is the reassurance an owner wants before routing a season around it.