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Inspection of Selene Shipyard (Jet-tern Shipyard)


Dear All,
I have just returned from China and inspecting several shipyards. This report is for Jet-Tern Marine.

FIRST SELENE 92' AT YARD NOW DELIVERED TO OWNER
FIRST SELENE 92' AT YARD, NOW DELIVERED TO OWNER.


Jet-Tern Marine, the builder of SELENE Yachts was established in 1998 by Howard Chen who is still the owner and a very active part of the shipyard. I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with him during my inspection of the yards. Howard is a dedicated, progressive thinking person and is a Naval Architect.

Jet-Tern has two yards, one in Dongguan China and one in Zhuhai China. The yards are about 2 to 2.5 hours apart depending on traffic. Zhuhai is a 50 minute fast ferry ride from Hong Kong airport. The original yard is the one in Dongguan were the bulk of the over 400 yachts that Jet-Tern has built have been constructed. The 400 plus yachts includes both the well know and respected SELENE line and a planing line of yachts built mostly for the Asian market named ARTEMIS YACHTS.

The larger SELENE and ARTEMIS YACHTS are built in the Zhuhai Yard. They are presently building the 78', 92' and 103' SELENE at the yard and have plans to build a 128' but not withstanding other reports this vessel is not under construction as of 9/10/2016.

Selene 92
Selene 92


Howard has really stepped up the product produced by the shipyard with the delivery of the first 92' SELENE, the first of the SELENE line to be built to both Class and MCA. The 103' under build now is also being built to Class and MCA.

One thing to keep in mind with the SELENE yachts they are TRUE full displacement trawlers, not semi-displacement hulls that can do 20 knots. They are Guido de Groot designs and are quite sophisticated designs not only in styling but in hull form. You can clearly see this in the above photo of the 93' with the smooth integration of the bulb, clean runs back aft providing clean water to the propellers and rudders and the joining of the spray rail and flair in the bow.

Selene 103
Selene 103


The Selene 103' looks to carry these features forward.

Selene 60 Stern
Selene 60 Stern


I inspected a 60' SELENE in Hong Kong before going over to inspect the yards in China. The boat was newly delivered and was finishing up turning it over to the owner and captain. I found the boat to be over all very good in final fit and finish. The stainless work was of high quality, I was to later learn that they also own a high end stainless steel plant that produces top quality cutlery for restaurants and homes and this seems to blend into the yacht stainless.

Selene 60 Table Detail
Selene 60 Table Detail


Selene 60 Air Vents
Selene 60 Air Vents


The interior finish is what we have come to expect from yachts out of this part of the world, good quality finish work and nice detailing. Like the hull the interior showed a good level of sophistication in design with valances, integrated air outlets and other well done finishing details.

Selene 60 electical
Selene 60 Electical


Electrical runs and equipment mounting under the helm panel looks well done.

Selene 60 fuel filter and tranfer system
Selene 60 Fuel Filter and Tranfer System


The engine room was a very pleasant surprise, it is of good size, well executed, had advanced features like all of the exhausting being supported by the structure, a fuel circulating and cleaning system, drip less shaft seals and neat hose runs.

Selene 60 steering system
Selene 60 Steering System


The steering system is set up with dual rams and over all appears to be very solid.

Selene 60 Charging
Selene 60 Chargers


The equipment is mostly US and of high quality. Connections looked well done over all and there was good room to get around. There are some pumps mounted in hard to get spots and items that could be better done. But keeping in mind the room they had to work with, the price point of the vessel and other restrictions the general engineering is solid. There are a lot of access panels around the boat all of which were labeled and when you opened them all the valves and other components were also clearly labeled.

Selene 60 Helm
Selene 60 Helm Chairs


Selene 60 Helm
Selene 60 Helm


Exterior fit and finish was good, not great, but well within your expectations of a vessel of this type and in some areas above. They have made the effort to recess items and create a clean neat feel to the boat. There are air vents in lockers and soft goods are well built.

Now for the things that were not so great, while all wire connections, wire runs and hose runs easily seen are very good, areas behind walls were not of the same level. In the new larger boats they are building they are putting into place true wire trays and piping runs and pre-planning how they will be done. On this boat it was not the case, the runs are taken around corners many without chaffing gear and you can see they were run as needed. Equipment and valves are well labeled and you see a lot of thought to how to access equipment, however they did not do a good enough job of cleaning dust and dirt out before the boat was finished and there are areas where paint has not been cleaned off or hoses and valves.

Most of these things can be taken care of with proper project management on the vessel, either better in house management or owner provided management.

As I said above, Howard is committed to building the larger boats to Class and MCA, which will positively effect not only the larger boats but the smaller ones as well.

I inspected a 78' SELENE and a 103' SELENE that are under build. The 103 is available for purchase. She is as of 9/8/2016 just a hull with main bulkheads in and some interior bulkheads being fitted. There are wire trays being put in and areas made to provide for piping runs, with the expert knowledge and experience that ALL OCEAN YACHTS and our team can bring to this project it could be an excellent vessel and a great value.

The 78' SELENE is more of a blend of old style and new style building. They are building some furniture off the boat and some onboard. Wiring runs and plumbing looks to be neater but still not well planned out. The level of cleanliness is still not what it should be but they are trying to improve this.

In conclusion, Jet-Tern is a yard moving forward toward modern building styles and working on increased efficiencies and quality. They are a good price to quality play and this should increase as quality continues to improve and efficiencies work in their favor. I would expect that prices of the vessels will go up as this happens as even with the increase in efficiency there will be a cost to improve quality.

I am sure that the hundreds of happy SELENE owner's will testify that their boats are wonderful and have improved with time. However it is my belief that Jet-Tern and Buyer's of SELENE yachts would greatly benefit from ALL OCEAN YACHTS and it's team involvement with any of the models of SELENE'S being built but especially the larger vessels being built to Class. This would help increase standards forward and improve the build and ownership experience.

Please Contact Me regarding any questions you have, for more photos and to discuss the Selene 93', 103' and 128' in more detail. Warmest regards,

John DeCaro
President
ALL OCEAN YACHTS


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