What do the families of the chairman of Louis Vuitton, the global chairman of Esprit, Michael Ying, and the deputy chairman of Goldman Sachs Securities Asia, Sung Hsueh-jen, have in common?

In addition to all being well known and quite wealthy, they all own something special made in Taiwan, namely yachts made in Taiwan. Taiwan manufacturers have created a foundation from which they are now building yachts for the world's wealthiest people. Yachts made in Taiwan can now be found just about any place in the world, and each one of them is full of surprises.

The yacht owned by Sung Hsueh-jen recently set out from Kaohsiung Harbor and headed for Hong Kong, where it will be delivered to its owner. The yacht has a specially designed room for babies. Meanwhile, the yactch ‘One Eagle’, purchased by the daughter of the chairman of Louis Vuitton is in fact an old German Oceanographic Ship that is currently being converted to a 70 meter mega yacht. The gutting and redecoration of the vessel is being carried out by Jade Yachts, which is a subsidiary of Jong Shyn Shipbuilding and includes the installation of a circular Scenic Lift.

The vessel, which will be called ‘Caravelle’, will be ready for delivery next year. The Scenic Lift aboard ‘Caravelle’ is being installed by TBV Industry & Offshore, who supply custom made lifts for the maritime industry; they also supply special ship equipment such as tender launch systems and composite hull doors. The ‘Caravelle’ exterior design is by Reymond Langton with engineering by Vripack and an interior by Zuretti.

The original project was based upon a 4 person circular Passenger Lift traveling between three decks with a stainless steel backside to which the stairs would be mounted. The only elements incorporating glass were to be the lift car and the landing doors. As a result of intensive communication between the clients’ designers and TBV, TBV came up with a proposal that the complete lift structure be clad in glass. The TBV proposal resulted in the clients designers adding a glass ceiling in the lift car, lift structure and sundeck floor. The designers were hoping to create the effect of traveling in a glass tube to the sky above.

TBV wanted to achieve the largest possible clear entrance width so that passengers and even wheelchair users could enter and exit the lift easily. They proposed a 900mm clear entrance width, which is extremely large compared to a lift car with a diameter of just 1100 mm. This large door opening meant that when the doors are opened they travel past the centre line of the car. This design meant that the guide rails and drive system had to be located away from the centre line of the lift car.

Most lifts have the drive mechanism for the doors mounted on top of the lift car but this was not possible due to the fact that the designers wanted a large glass ceiling without any visible lift equipment mounted above. The fact that there is a galley situated immediately below the lift meant that the lift pit was restricted to 500mm; despite this fact, TBV managed to accommodate the door drive mechanism below the lift car. The restricted pit depth meant that there was insufficient space for the drive system of the lift under the lift; it had to be located adjacent to the lift car; this proved to be quite a challenge for TBV in as much as they had to accommodate all of the shaft components in as little space as possible so as to maximize the glazed effect.

TBV managed to accommodate the guide rails, a cable carrier system for the trailing flexes and the hydraulic cylinder in a space of 400mm x 250 mm. All of this equipment is shrouded with stainless steel mirror finish fascias. The drive system consists of two 3 stage telescopic hydraulic cylinders. The speed of the lift is 0.6 m/s and with an electronic controlled valve incorporated, the quality of ride will be high due to the fact that the acceleration and deceleration of the car is constant, independent of load or the temperature of the hydraulic oil. The digital shaft copying system which is mounted on this lift makes sure the lift stops at each landing with accurate floor leveling; the system is so advanced that leveling accuracy is said to be in the region of plus or minus 0.5 mm.

The hydraulic drive is controlled by a TBV lift microprocessor and it is possible to log into the system remotely by GSM or satellite connection. This enables TBV to monitor the functioning of the lift remote from the TBV company. The need for maintenance can be identified and even problem solving can be done remotely by TBV. For lifts on yachts and ships this is important because the possibility of a quick service visit is often difficult while the vessel is on open water.

The TBV design for this lift is based upon the philosophy of reducing the installation time to a minimum; this reduces the installation costs and reduces the disturbance to the ship yard during the hectic period of fitting out the yacht. From this philosophy the well known “Backbone System” originated. The problem faced by TBV was that in the case of a lift with so much glass, it is not possible to incorporate a steel backbone structure to support the lift equipment without substantially reducing the glazed surface area. In this instance, the glass enclosure of this lift is mounted on the decks of the yacht.

So as to be able to carry out complete testing of the lift in the factory and installation in one piece, TBV developed an external structure which supports the complete lift. The structure also holds and protects the lift during transport to Taiwan; it fits into a 40’ container. Upon arrival at the ship yard, the lift with its supporting structure is placed in the upright position and then the structure is disassembled. The glass lift with the glass enclosure is then hoisted into the yacht and mounted to the decks. Finally hydraulics and cabling are connected and the lift is fine tuned and commissioned.