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Hodor is a 66m steel-hulled support vessel delivered by Damen Yachting in 2019, built on the Yacht Support 6911 platform. She is one of the most photographed shadow vessels in the world, partly because of her industrial profile, partly because her toy garage has been documented holding things most charter clients have never seen at sea: a 24m chase tender, two helicopters, a submersible, two sport-fishers, and a cargo of jet skis and tow toys that runs to 30-plus units. She is also one of a small number of shadow vessels that has, at points, been released for independent charter, which makes her unusual within a category that almost never appears on the open market.
This is a profile of what Hodor is, what she carries, what a week aboard her actually means, and what a charter client should verify before sending an enquiry.
What Hodor is
The Damen Yacht Support 6911 is a commercial support platform converted to a yacht-quality finish. The 6911 designation refers to the design family. Hull length is 66.20m. Beam is 11.60m. Draft is 3.95m. Gross tonnage is approximately 1,790 GT. Range is in the 4,500 nautical mile region at 13 knots. She carries a helideck rated for touch-and-go operations and, in some configurations, with refuelling capacity for the helicopters she shadows. She has a 65-tonne crane on the aft deck for launching the larger toys.
Guest capacity is small for a yacht of her LOA. Hodor accommodates 12 guests across 6 cabins, with a crew complement of 22. Compare that to a conventional 66m motor yacht of equivalent volume, which would typically host 12 guests across 6 to 7 cabins with 16 crew. The difference is volume allocation: on Hodor, the spaces a conventional yacht uses for additional cabins, formal dining, and a beach club have been reassigned to a 470 sqm tender garage, a workshop, helideck infrastructure, and crew accommodation that is sized for the operational demands of the toys aboard.
She is registered in the Cayman Islands. Naval architecture by Damen, exterior styling by Damen with the YS 6911 family lines, interior reportedly by.
Why she exists
Shadow vessels emerged because primary yacht garages stopped being able to hold the toy fleets that primary owners wanted aboard. A 100m Lürssen with a tender garage built for two 11m tenders and four jet skis cannot also carry a submersible, a sport-fisher, two helicopters, and a 22m chase tender. Once the toy fleet exceeds the primary garage, the choices are: shrink the fleet, build a longer primary, or commission a shadow.
Hodor is a 2019-delivery example of the third path. She belongs to a primary yacht that we do not name publicly. The primary uses Hodor as a forward-deployed garage and a launch platform. The primary anchors. Hodor anchors a few hundred meters off. The toys deploy from Hodor. The helicopter lands on Hodor's deck rather than on the primary's helipad, which keeps the primary's principal-deck noise and downdraft away from the guest spaces.
This logic only works above a certain owner spend. The shadow vessel is a second yacht with a second crew, a second insurance policy, a second flag, a second set of port fees, and a second set of repositioning costs. The break-even is roughly a primary yacht in the 90m+ range with a toy fleet that materially exceeds her own garage, and an owner who uses the yacht more than 12 weeks per year.
What is actually aboard
A typical Hodor toy package, based on published equipment lists from her delivery and subsequent charter releases, includes: a 24m custom chase tender (the kind of tender most owners would call a yacht), 2 limousine tenders in the 9 to 11m range, 2 helicopters (typically Airbus H125 or H145 class), 1 manned submersible (commonly a Triton 3300/3 with 1,000m depth rating), 2 sport-fishers in the 12m range, 4 to 6 jet skis, 4 to 8 SeaBobs, 2 EFoils, paddleboards, kayaks, and full diving infrastructure including a compressor and rebreather support.
That toy fleet, valued conservatively, runs to $80 million to $120 million depending on the helicopter and submersible specification. The capital cost of the toys aboard Hodor often exceeds the build cost of the shadow vessel herself. This is the inversion that defines shadow vessels: the platform is in service of the cargo.
For a charter client, what this means in practice: Hodor is not booked because of the cabins. She is booked because of what is in the garage. If you are not going to use the helicopters, the submersible, and the chase tender, you are paying a 66m charter rate to sleep on a yacht that has been optimised for a different purpose. There is a strong argument that, for a client who wants a normal Mediterranean week with a beach club and a formal dining room, a conventional 66m motor yacht is the better booking by a significant margin.
Three things we would change
We would not change the platform. The 6911 is purpose-built and Damen executed it cleanly. What we would change is the packaging on charter weeks.
The first issue is communication. When Hodor has appeared on charter releases, the fact that she is a shadow vessel rather than a primary has not always been clearly stated in the broker brief. A client booking 66m and expecting the volume distribution of a conventional 66m gets to embarkation day and finds the formal salon is small, the principal cabins are good but not enormous, and the dining is informal. We would write the brief to lead with what she is: a toy platform with comfortable accommodation for 12, not a primary yacht.
The second issue is pricing relative to use. The argument for chartering Hodor at her rate is the toy fleet. If a charter week is released without the helicopter and the submersible, the value proposition collapses. We would not take a Hodor week that excluded the helicopter or the sub. The whole point is the equipment.
The third issue is itinerary. Hodor only earns her rate in destinations where the toys can be used. A Capri-Positano-Amalfi week does not need a submersible. A Bahamas-Exumas week with a heli-routing to remote cays, dive sites at the Tongue of the Ocean, and submersible drops on the Andros wall is a different proposition entirely. We would charter Hodor in the Bahamas, the Maldives, French Polynesia, Raja Ampat, or Greenland. We would not charter Hodor in the Med.
What we would pass on
We would pass on Hodor for the standard Western Mediterranean charter week. The Med has anchorage restrictions, helicopter restrictions in many of the coastal protected zones, and a lack of submersible-relevant water depth in the cruising areas charter clients usually want. You are paying for capability that the cruising area cannot absorb.
We would also pass on Hodor for charter clients whose group does not include at least four people who will use the toys daily. With a 12-guest capacity and a toy fleet sized for active daily deployment, a quiet group on Hodor produces an awkward mismatch between the platform and the use. The 24m chase tender is more boat than most charter clients have ever helmed. The submersible carries 2 passengers and a pilot on each dive and runs in tight slots. If the group's centre of gravity is dinner and sun lounge time, the toys do not justify the rate.
We would pass on the assumption that Hodor's industrial styling is a flaw. It is not. The aesthetic suits the function. We would pass on broker briefs that try to soften the look with stylised photography that obscures the helideck and the crane. The yacht is what she is.
Charter availability and what to verify
Hodor's appearances on the charter market have been irregular. She has been released through major central agents in shoulder-season windows, typically when the primary yacht's calendar leaves her without a paired deployment for a 4 to 8 week stretch. Outside those windows she does not appear in conventional charter listings.
Before any enquiry, verify: the central agent of record for the specific window you are asking about (this changes between releases), the toy package included for that week (helicopters, submersible, sport-fishers, chase tender, all confirmed in writing), the cruising area cleared by the owner for that release, the all-in budget including APA at 30 to 35 percent and crew gratuity at 10 to 15 percent, and the operating staff for the toys, in particular submersible pilot and helicopter pilot certification. The toys do not deploy without certified operators aboard, and those operators are sometimes additional to the standard crew of 22.
If those five items are not in the broker's first response, the release is not ready and we would wait for the next window.
Spec at a glance
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Builder | Damen Yachting |
| Platform | Yacht Support 6911 |
| Year delivered | 2019 |
| LOA | 66.20m |
| Beam | 11.60m |
| Draft | 3.95m |
| GT | approximately 1,790 |
| Range | approximately 4,500 nm at 13 knots |
| Guests | 12 across 6 cabins |
| Crew | 22 (excluding helicopter and submersible operators) |
| Helideck | yes, touch-and-go rated |
| Tender garage | approximately 470 sqm with 65t crane |
| Submersible | 1 (typically Triton class) |
| Helicopters | 2 |
| Flag | Cayman Islands |
| Refit |
Where Hodor sits in the shadow-vessel field
The shadow-vessel field above 60m is small. The other names that come up in the same conversation are Game Changer (70m Damen YS), Wayfinder (68m Astilleros Armon), and the older generation of converted commercial vessels that predates the purpose-built segment. Hodor and Game Changer are the two most often discussed because they are both Damen Yacht Support platforms, both delivered within two years of each other, and both, at points, have been released for charter when their primary's calendar permitted.
Game Changer reads slightly more aggressive in profile and has tended to operate further afield. Hodor reads more conventional and has appeared more often in the Mediterranean and Caribbean release pattern. For a charter client choosing between them on a hypothetical released week, the differentiator is likely to be the specific toy package and the cruising area, not the platform. They are close cousins.
The bottom line
Hodor is a precise tool. The clients who get the most out of her are the ones who came for what is in the garage, plan their itinerary around toy-relevant water, and book her in destinations where the helicopters, the submersible, and the chase tender can be used hard for seven days. The clients who get the least out of her are the ones who booked the LOA expecting a conventional 66m motor-yacht week.
Most readers of this page will be in the second group. That is fine. Hodor is not for most charter clients. She is for a narrow window of charter clients, and within that window she is one of the few platforms that actually delivers what the marketing of shadow vessels has been promising since the segment emerged.
For everyone else, see our explorer yacht charter shortlist for the conventional yachts that deliver expedition-grade capability in a more guest-conventional package.
For destination context on where Hodor's capability actually pays off, see our Maldives stay guide on hotelsforkings.com and our southeast-Asia charter pillar.
FAQ
Is Hodor available for charter in 2026? Availability is intermittent. Verify with the central agent for the specific window. Shadow vessels are released in 4 to 8 week stretches when the primary's calendar permits, not as a standing season-long programme.
What is the weekly charter rate?. The Damen Yacht Support 6911 platforms in her LOA range typically clear in the $400K to $750K per week band when released, with APA at 30 to 35 percent on top.
Can Hodor be chartered without the toy fleet? In principle, yes. In practice, no, because the entire reason to book her is the equipment. A bare-platform Hodor week is a 66m yacht with a small interior. We would pass on that release.
What is the difference between Hodor and Game Changer? Both are Damen Yacht Support 6911 platforms delivered within two years of each other. Differences are in interior layout, toy package, exterior trim, and primary-yacht pairing. The platforms themselves are close cousins.
Where does Hodor charter best? Destinations where the helicopter, submersible, chase tender, and sport-fishers all earn their place: the Bahamas, the Maldives, French Polynesia, Raja Ampat, and the polar shoulder regions. We would not charter Hodor in the Western Mediterranean.