For the month of August, Carlingford Marina in County Louth will be trialling a “Universal Basic Berthage” rate for visiting yachts. The 170–berth marina, located on the East coast of Ireland, will be offering overnight berthage at a basic rate of €25 per boat, per night.
“In a time where Obama, Elon Musk and Richard Branson are actively promoting the idea of Universal Basic Income - we thought we would have our own experiment and see what would happen if everyone paid the same amount for berthage, no matter how big or small your boat is.” Jonny Moneley – Marina Manager, Carlingford Marina.
Berthage fees at marinas are normally calculated on a price per metre basis. The per metre rate is multiplied by the LOA (length overall) of the boat, and the resulting figure is the amount you pay to berth your boat.
For example; the nightly rate at Carlingford Marina is €3.50 per metre. So; for a 7-metre boat, the berthage cost would be €24.50 for the night, and for a 12-metre boat, that price would jump to €42.00 for the night.
Jonny Moneley, Carlingford Marina Manager
Speaking of the Universal Basic Berthage trial, Jonny stated “I can imagine this experiment being of particular interest to the owners of larger boats. Just this week we welcomed the 23 metre SY Marevida who paid €80 to dock beside a 10-metre boat who only paid €35, stayed for the same length of time and got the same standard of service.”
Smaller boats will also see benefits with this system as it is intrinsically simple. Charging a set amount per boat enables a far more transparent pricing structure, and takes the guess work out of calculating rates and fees.
The success of the trial will be judged on 4 main criteria. Percentage increase in the number of visiting boats (compared to the same period last year), the number of nights the visitors stay, revenue generated from visitor berthage, and projected expenditure by these visitors in the local community.
“We will be paying particular attention to the number of visitors over the course of the experiment – i.e. the number of people aboard each boat. Our main aim from the experiment is to boost the number of people using the Carlingford Marina facility and experiencing Carlingford Village and all it has to offer. Generally speaking; the real value of a visitor is not in the money you collect in berthage – but in the atmosphere that these bodies create, and in what they spend in the bar, restaurant, local shops and more.” – Jonny, Carlingford Marina Manager. “Success in this area alone would be enough reason for us to continue with the Universal Basic Berthage program for the 2019 season.”
Finland recently elected not to extend their UBI experiment past 2018 – however, Carlingford Marina will tough it out good or bad, and ensure their own experiment runs its course in full. The Universal Basic Berthage trial will begin on the 1st of August and run right through to the 3rd of September. As per their existing visitor rate, there will be no extra charges for shore power, fresh water, toilets or showers.
Carlingford Marina can accommodate boats of up to 25 metres LOA (anything larger than 15.5 metres LOA needs to contact the marina in advance).
Maximum draft is 2.2 metres, and boats of 2 metres draft are advised to avoid navigating within the marina basin 2 hours either side of low water.
Phone: +353 (0)42 93 73072
