Forbes spotlights billionaire superyacht traffic in St. Maarten and St. Barths for holiday season

GREAT BAY--A Forbes.com report published Tuesday highlights a surge of billionaire-owned superyachts circulating through St. Barths and neighboring islands, with St. Maarten again positioned as a key hub for arrivals, turnarounds, and island hopping in the lead-up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

In the article, Forbes describes the seasonal concentration of high-end yacht traffic tied to holiday travel, celebrity events, and New Year’s Eve celebrations centered around Gustavia, St. Barths, with spillover across nearby destinations including St. Maarten. Forbes notes that real-time vessel tracking and owner data referenced in the report were sourced via industry tracking platforms, and that the yacht list is expected to be updated through the holidays.

Yachts tied to St. Maarten right now, or routing to St. Maarten

Based on the Forbes list and current AIS destination data from tracking platforms, several headline vessels are either reported in St. Maarten waters or signaling St. Maarten as their destination:

• WHISPER, owned by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, is listed as currently in St. Maarten, with AIS destination information matching Philipsburg.

• ARTEFACT, owned by BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis, is listed as currently in St. Maarten, with tracking data showing a destination matching Philipsburg and regional positioning in the Caribbean.

• APOGEE, owned by entrepreneur Darwin Deason, is listed as currently in St. Maarten, while AIS-based tracking shows it routing to St. Maarten.

• KISMET, commissioned and owned by billionaire Shahid Khan, is listed as en route to St. Maarten, with AIS-based tracking also indicating St. Maarten as the matched destination and showing an expected arrival window.

• BRAVO EUGENIA, owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is listed as en route to St. Maarten.

Forbes also points to a concentration of megayachts anchored off St. Barths for the holiday period, tying the seasonal marine traffic to a broader luxury travel ecosystem that includes private aviation, concierge-managed villa stays, and premium nightlife programming around Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘝𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘐𝘚 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘈𝘐𝘚 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

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