Taiwan-Built Yachts Worth Buying? Vitech, Ruby, New Ocean

Short answer: Taiwan-built yachts hold their own against European and American yards on hull structure and craftsmanship. Their strength is price — like-for-like against a European or American brand of the same length, used asking prices are generally lower, because there is less brand premium. Their weakness is brand recognition and a narrow overseas resale market; for some model years and smaller brands there is barely an independent brand entry in the international databases at all. Take the six Taiwan-built boats currently in Sun Yachts stock (two Vitech, three Ruby, one New Ocean): asking prices run from HK$1,200,000 to HK$6,800,000, and all of them are mid-to-large cruising boats over 60ft. Below we take each brand in turn — history, the specs of the actual boats, and the survey points — and then set out how to choose in Hong Kong's used market.

Taiwan's yacht building history goes back to the 1960s, and decades of work earned it the title of a "yacht kingdom" — cumulative exports worldwide exceed 20,000 boats. The industry contracted in the 1990s, was hit again by the 2008 financial crisis, and then shifted towards high-specification custom superyachts (Taiwan Panorama). On the figures cited by United Yacht Sales, Taiwan is Asia's largest producer of yachts over 50ft and fifth in the world; raise the threshold to 78ft and it ranks fourth globally, behind only Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The island has more than 35 yards capable of building above 50ft (United Yacht Sales).

The point of that industry background is that Taiwan's leading yards — Horizon and Ocean Alexander among them — are already world-class brands, with international awards such as "Best Asian Yacht Builder" to their name (United Yacht Sales). But the Vitech, Ruby and New Ocean boats this article deals with come from small-to-medium yards. They draw on the same Taiwanese glassfibre (GRP) boatbuilding supply chain and skilled workforce as the big yards, but they are in a different league on international brand recognition and resale network. Buyers should not equate these three with Horizon or Ocean Alexander — and equally should not write off their hull craftsmanship on the assumption that "Taiwan-built means cheap".

Vitech Marine Co., Ltd. is a Taiwanese yard that has built mid-to-large yachts. It has its own entry in the international superyacht database SuperYacht Times, listing several boats it built, including the 27.92m Astor (1993) and the 27.43m On Your Mark (2006) (SuperYacht Times). That scale shows Vitech has the capability to build hulls over 27m, not only mid-sized craft.

Sun Yachts currently has two Vitech boats in stock:

Survey points: both boats run international-brand Caterpillar engines, and both are already past 1,000 hours (the 2007 Vitech 68 above 1,700). The survey should focus on whether the engines have been overhauled, the overhaul records, and the parts replacement list — this is the normal service milestone for a mid-to-large diesel, not something specific to Taiwanese boats, but the higher the hours the less you can afford to skip it.

Ruby Yachts (also known internationally as Grand Harbour Yachts) was founded in 1985 in the Xiaogang district of Kaohsiung, one of the earlier builders of sailing and glassfibre yachts in southern Taiwan, working primarily in hand-laid glassfibre hulls. Its best-known model is the Ruby 62, offering a three-cabin layout with a large flybridge (asia-boating.com).

One point to flag: there is a separate superyacht also named "Ruby", built by the Italian yard Tecnomar in 2006 and registered with SuperYacht Times. They are entirely different yards and different boats — do not confuse the two. Every reference to Ruby in this article means the Kaohsiung-based Ruby Yachts / Grand Harbour Yachts brand.

Sun Yachts currently has three Ruby boats in stock:

Even within the same Ruby 62 model, the 2006 and 2008 boats differ in LOA, engines and hours — compare them boat by boat rather than assuming a shared model name means shared condition. The model details of the 2008 Ruby 62 are still being confirmed; please verify with the broker when you view the boat.

The 2014 Ruby 80 has no published asking price and is listed as price on request.

Survey points: the 2008 Ruby 62 is at 1,366 engine hours, the highest of the three, so as with the Vitech boats the overhaul records are the priority. Ruby's hand-laid glassfibre hulls also mean the surveyor should look specifically for osmosis or delamination — an ageing issue common to all GRP boats, not unique to Taiwanese builds.

New Ocean is close to a blank in publicly available brand history — we could not find an independent, reliable source setting out when the yard was founded, where it is based, or whether it is still building. We are checking with Sun Yachts for further background and any agent contact details. Until that gap is filled, this article describes only the specs of the boat in stock, and makes no claims about brand history.

Sun Yachts currently has one New Ocean boat in stock:

This is the longest and most expensive of the six Taiwan-built boats. At 88ft it approaches megayacht territory, and 950 engine hours represents moderate use for a 2008 boat. If you are interested, the engine service history is again the priority on survey, and we would also suggest asking the broker directly about what is known of the yard's background and parts supply network.

One observation jumps out. Across the 60–65ft boats asking between HK$1.2M and HK$2.5M (the two Vitechs and the two Ruby 62s), engine hours do not simply track price downwards — the cheapest of them, the 2006 Vitech 65 at $1,200,000, shows 1,050 hours, lower than the notably more expensive 2008 Ruby 62 at $1,500,000 with 1,366 hours. That is a pattern common to this group of boats: asking price is driven more by brand recognition than by condition. Cheaper does not mean more tired, and more expensive does not guarantee a better boat — every boat needs an independent survey, and price alone tells you nothing.

There is no reliable public information on which yards and parts channels in Hong Kong commonly service these Taiwanese boats; we are checking with Sun Yachts and will update this article once we have it.

• Buyers who want space on a limited budget. For the same money, a Taiwan-built boat typically buys more length and more cabins — the HK$1.5M–3.3M band here already gets you 60–68ft.
• Owners based in Hong Kong or the wider Asian region who are not planning to resell into Europe or the US soon. The narrow resale point matters much less in that use case.
• Buyers willing to pay for a thorough survey and who are not fussed about brand recognition. Condition varies widely across these boats (look at the spread of hours and years above), and the survey plus service history matters more than the badge.
• Less suitable for: buyers who care deeply about resale value retention, or who plan to sell the boat into the European or American market in the near term — mainstream European and American brands (Fairline, Absolute, Princess) offer better liquidity for that.

For the survey points shared with any used boat, see the survey section of our complete guide to buying a second-hand yacht in Hong Kong. Engine hours on Taiwan-built boats tend to run high, so for how to cost the maintenance, see How Much Does It Really Cost to Own a Yacht Per Year?.