Swiss-born Peter Hürzeler has over 30 years’ experience in the yachting industry, from merchant deck officer at the age of 21 - 30 to the present day where he is the co-founder and CEO of one of the world’s foremost luxury yacht brokerage, charter, management, new build and consultancy companies. From pastime to profession, Peter circumnavigated the globe as a young merchant deck offer, gaining thousands of sea-miles on commercial ships and in parallel acquired his Dutch Master Mariner qualification. Then in 1985, using the knowledge, professionalism and seamanship he had acquired during his commercial training, Peter Hürzeler decided to create one of the industry’s first owner-operated luxury cruise-charter companies. The fleet’s first vessel, 120’ sailing yacht COLOMBAIO, was commissioned and constructed in Holland, commercially certified, registered and operated—this at a time when the likes of the MCA were not even dreamed of. Peter captained COLOMBAIO from her launch in 1987. The yacht was kept solidly booked for several years and the charter operation eventually grew from 1 yacht to 3. He then made the natural transition to life ashore, forming a company in his home town of Zürich, called Ocean Cruise, specializing in yacht management and brokerage. In January 2005, after masterminding the merger of Ocean Cruise, Sea Independence and Veloná Yachting, Peter joined forces with a long-standing friend and professional associate, Nicholas Dean. Together they formed Ocean Independence: a 16 strong network of offices, spanning the globe. Then 2008 saw the acquisition of Cavendish White, a highly respected and long standing competitor, resulting in the world’s largest central agency listing of crewed luxury super yachts and one of the largest listings of yachts for sale. Peter was also elected for 3 terms as the President of MYBA - the most important global super yachting association. Peter is currently CEO and Chairman of the Board at Ocean Independence.