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# Cape Town's first superyacht marina has a day job for the off-season
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/cape-towns-first-superyacht-marina-has-a-day-job-for-the-off-season/
- Published: 2026-08-22T06:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-22T05:59:59.000Z
- Description: The R230 million Quay 7 basin will berth eight yachts up to 90 metres in season and stage catamaran exports for the rest of the year.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

Marinas built for superyachts have an obvious problem. The yachts arrive for a few months, and then they leave. The V and A Waterfront's answer at Quay 7 is to give the basin a second job for the rest of the year.

The R230 million development will be South Africa's first purpose-built superyacht marina, sitting on the water alongside the Cape Town EDITION, Marriott International's first EDITION-branded hotel in Africa. Damen Shipyards Cape Town is fabricating six 30-metre floating pontoons that will create eight berths, six stern-in and two side-on, for vessels up to 90 metres. Practical completion is targeted for 31 October 2026, with an official opening on 1 November.

## The off-season plan

Outside the superyacht season the basin is meant to carry commissioning and export staging for Cape Town's catamaran builders, among them Robertson and Caine, Two Oceans Marine and Balance Catamarans. That is what turns four or five busy months into twelve. The commercial case behind it is traffic that has climbed steadily since 2009, reaching 35 vessels in the 2024/25 season, many of them staying for extended periods, with the spend landing on fuel suppliers, provisioning companies, marine engineers, logistics providers and contractors.

## Who is building it, and out of what

Damen is a shipbuilder rather than a marina contractor: patrol vessels, research and supply vessels, dredgers and tugs. Managing director Hermoine Manuel calls Quay 7 the company's most technically advanced marina project. Each 48-tonne pontoon is built in three fabricated sections, covering the bottom, side shells, bulkheads and deck, before final assembly. The hardest engineering has been below the waterline, where the seabed anchoring system needed specialist testing protocols to hold up in Cape Town's conditions, and the team has leaned on 3D modelling, digital scanning and underwater survey systems.

Finished berths will carry water, electricity, fire and lifesaving equipment, bonded fuel supply, bamboo decking and direct access to the Syncrolift and Robinson Dry Dock for repair and refit work.

About 120 people are on site, including staff from nine local subcontractors, and 76% of procurement spend has gone to local suppliers so far, or 35% once Damen itself is excluded.

The hotel next door is due to open late in 2026, with 142 rooms, 27 suites and six private residences, designed by Shanghai firm Neri and Hu alongside Cape Town's StudioMAS. The marina build was roughly 45% complete in July. The first superyachts are expected before the end of the year.