Icon’s Ferrero on the challenges of owning a shipyard
Swiss lawyer and businessman Micca Ferrero bought Icon Yachts in 2021.
He bought a shipyard with a solid reputation for explorer yachts but it was the brand’s recognition from the industry that delivered the biggest thrill.
Micca Ferrero, the owner of Icon Yachts, was humbled when a major Dutch yacht builder inquired about placing a 100m refit project at his facility.
“I couldn’t really believe it, that such a key player with a full team could come into my home to do such essential work for a very famous billionaire,” the Swiss lawyer and businessman tells us.
“It was like a dream coming true because there was validation from the best of the best. That was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my yachting career, to be able to join such a prestigious organisation. And then when they came with their second boat …”
Icon, based in Harlingen in the northern Netherlands, was founded by entrepreneurs Ton van Dam and Alex Shnaider in 2005 and built notable yachts such as Icon (now Loon). Following bankruptcy and a change of ownership, Ferrero acquired the majority shareholding in 2021.
He was inspired by a love of the ocean born out of growing up around boats with his Italian father and a fascination with large explorer yachts that could be used for fun, discovery, science and philanthropy, fulfilling a wider purpose.
“I met the previous owner of Icon Yachts, which was taking that direction,” says the Monaco-based Ferrero. “I had the opportunity to invest next to him and then to buy the capital of the shipyard from him. I really followed the passion and my entrepreneurial dream and I took this big risk.”
Icon has become known for its conversion of commercial vessels, making headlines with the reimagining of the former ice-breaking tug Giant into the 77m explorer yacht Legend, owned by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, in 2015. It followed this milestone with another multi-purpose ice-breaker Sanaborg which became the 68m explorer Ragnar in 2020 (now named Q).
The yard’s current major project is the 70m Master which is being converted from a North Sea emergency rescue vessel into a go-anywhere superyacht and research platform. Master is for sale with Fraser Yachts with an asking price of €99.5m.
“Icon bought the rescue vessel a few years ago during Covid,” says Ferrero. “We went to see Espen Øino, the famous designer in Monaco, and asked him to help design an explorer on that hull. And so we had the joy, the pride and the passion to start this project and to bring it as far as possible for a client.”
Icon Yachts’ Project Master at the yard in Harlingen, Netherlands.
Since taking on the yard, Ferrero has been struck by the challenges and complexity of large yacht construction.
“I have discovered and learned a lot, much more than I thought I would. It is a very difficult job to build yachts,” he says.
“Every project is different, except for the series models. It’s very complex to design, to engineer, to build, to deliver. It’s a very expensive asset for one client and they want it their way.
“When it comes to the shipyard organisation and process, you are under tremendous stress. Every small mistake has a lot of consequences with suppliers on one side and your client on the other side.”
He adds: “A lot of people believe it’s like real estate on the water, but this is completely wrong. A yacht is closer to an Airbus A380, with 200km of cable and the most complex systems. It was like, ‘Wow, now I understand why the price is 10 times what the real estate is.’”
Dramatic consequences
One significant issue he has encountered, not often spoken about, has been when payments from a client suddenly stop, perhaps because they have lost money and pulled out, which has serious implications for the whole supply chain.
“Clients always ask shipyards to be strong financially, but if the client stops paying it has the most dramatic consequences, no matter how big the shipyard is,” he says.
“You could be in a bad place because you have commitments with other people for millions and millions.”
Key to mitigating this risk is to always “work with good clients”, he says. “An eligible client is not necessarily the guy showing up with the Rolls-Royce and the gold watch,” he adds.
“Another way to solve this risk is to create enough buffer for manoeuvring with your own staff and with suppliers to minimise the consequences. It requires a lot of trust between the shipyard and the suppliers. You solve it with personal relationship and good spirits.”
Icon Yachts unveiled Mission-M at the 2025 Monaco Yacht Show.
While conversions and new builds — Icon advertises a semi-custom Mission range — steal the headlines, about half of the business is refit. And it is trending upwards, due to demand, low risk and the ability to “modelise”, adds Ferrero.
“The refit industry is huge because it’s not only about fixing a boat, upgrading, new paint. It’s the infrastructure that it takes. All these yachts need to go somewhere and they can’t really go where they were built because they’re building new boats.”
He references Blackstone’s $5.65bn acquisition of leading US marina owner Safe Harbor Marinas earlier this year and points to Icon’s burgeoning business as a “warranty and refit hub” providing an “a la carte menu” of services for many large yacht builders.
“At Icon, we’re specialised in receiving these boats built by other yards. That’s a great business,” adds Ferrero. “I would push anyone wanting to invest in the yachting industry to invest in the refit world and real estate for yachts. This is the new asset class if you want to make money.”
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Icon, though, will continue to work on one or two central projects, driven by Ferrero’s belief that there is “100%” demand for explorer yachts. The ability to add on science and research projects offers an “extra purpose”.
“It is a growing niche because in the luxury world in general, you move from products to experience and the explorer yacht is the ultimate experience platform,” he says.
“If you look at the amount of vessels of this kind that are available today, it’s a very small number. There are maybe 20 very capable, real explorer yachts of 70m-plus, for example. And you have maybe five very good European shipyards which can build these boats. And they are here to serve the world demand.”
‘When the magic happens’
Under his tenure, with the support of Tony Gale as CEO, Icon has been through a rebirth and restructure, Covid and its aftermath, the loss of the Russian market because of sanctions, and economic and geopolitical stress. Ferrero says he is “proud” of his team for striving against the odds to build a “legacy”.
“We’ve managed to achieve that at Icon after five years of immense work, day and night,” he says. “There were really difficult times but we never gave up. We stayed very united. We really had to work hard to support the shipyard financially and to grow the business at the same time.
“It’s never easy, even when you have the clients ready. But each milestone is transformative – when you sign for the project, when you start the project, when you learn how to work with the client’s team. It’s like a marriage. But it can also go very wrong.”
As a leader and the face of the business, Ferrero acknowledges that he is learning every day.
“Sometimes you’re convinced you’re doing the right thing, but then you’re proven wrong. It can hurt, but you have to put the ego aside and to do it for the company,” he says.
“But at some stage something happens. The team starts to work. People stop fighting against themselves and fight together against the outside world. That’s when the magic happens.
“It’s putting the right people together and pushing for that magic. But it’s the most difficult thing in life.”
One thing that is easy is to pinpoint is Ferrero’s motivation.
“This capacity to build these platforms and to go and discover the oceans is what keeps me going,” he says. “The history of the world has been driven by this magnificent force. Because we have always taken to the sea for a better future.
“So it’s continuing this tradition of humankind.”
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