From the BBC, May 18:
Wealthy people have so far spent more than £1bn on superyachts in 2021 as they seek to escape Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions, according to a luxury lifestyle publisher.
Boat International said the surge is set to make this year the biggest yet in terms of second-hand sales.
But Oxfam said it was "obscene" that such wealth was not spent on vaccines.
For the cost of those superyachts, the population of Nepal could be fully vaccinated, the charity said.
The trend towards buying superyachts, which started last summer, is the "hottest sales streak on record", Boat International said.
It defines a superyacht as being longer than 24 metres and typically they need a crew.
'Avoiding land'
These smaller superyachts - the bigger ones can be up to 180 metres - usually cost between €1m and €5m (£860,000 to £4.3m) second-hand, and have running costs of about €200,000 per year for crew, mooring fees and fuel, said Boat International editor-in-chief Stewart Campbell.
They can be kitted out with spa pools, sun decks, gyms, or anything else the owners want.
The sales surge was being driven by "a cohort of very wealthy people" who wanted to get away from travel restrictions and covid-related lockdowns by buying a yacht, Mr Campbell said.
While the pandemic had made it more difficult for rich people to jet to the Mediterranean and cruise around, he said, "it's a minor inconvenience in the scheme of things"....
Jeff Bezos buys $500M superyacht amid luxury industry boom
His yacht has a yacht.
