After a buffeting during the global financial crisis, the superyacht industry appears to be charting a course towards calmer waters.
Yacht builders attending this year's Dubai International Boat Show are in a confident mood for the first time in three years, as the business appears to be coming out of the doldrums.
The global financial crisis that began in 2008 delivered a body blow to the makers of luxury yachts, with orders for superyachts especially hard hit and a slew of builders going out of business.
But industry watchers say that although there is no overall marked upturn, the rate of decline is slowing, and in some sectors has turned the corner and is back on the up.
"I think the market has stabilised, and we can see that the majority of the key players today are seeing good activity. I'm optimistic for the next five years," said Martin Redmayne, the chairman of The Superyacht Group, the leading industry analyst. "The fleet has grown and will continue to grow, but at a more stable pace."
Tim Thomas, the editor of Boat International, agrees. He said the magazine's "global order book for 2012 is down again. This is the third year of decline in the number of yacht projects under way or on order". However, Mr Thomas added: "The descent has slowed to just under a 3 per cent decline year on year. And the industry appears to be getting some traction."
A record number of member companies from the Superyacht Builders Association will be exhibiting at this year's Dubai boat show, according to the event organiser, Dubai World Trade Centre.
The show runs from Tuesday to Saturday at the Dubai International Marine Club, with 750 exhibitors from more than 40 countries billed to attend. The organisers say they expect more than 25,000 visitors.
The latest edition of Mr Redmayne's Superyacht Annual Report, recognised as the industry benchmark, shows how significant the industry is to the world economy.
Latest figures showed the superyacht market was worth €24 billion (Dh115.6bn) in 2010, with more than 6,000 companies operating in the industry, the report said. Jobs created by superyachts were worth €5.99bn annually, with up to 250,000 land-based jobs, and 33,000 crew employed on yachts.
The report said the industry prospects for this year were positive and noted that although the world order book in number of vessels had diminished, as had the number of yards building vessels today, the number of metres in build, or total length overall (LOA) - a traditional measure of prosperity in the industry - had grown by about 3,500 metres LOA.
In 2010, there were 99 shipyards building 453 yachts totalling 20,772 metres LOA; today the report is tracking 79 shipyards building 423 yachts, totalling 23,371 metres LOA.
"This suggests that we have lost some short-term players from the market, but we are seeing stability and growth at the existing yards, which should be good for the long term," the report said.
Mr Redmayne told The National: "It will be interesting to track what happens over the next 12 months and if the number of yards grows or reduces as deliveries are made this year.
"We are seeing signs of growth and stability, and even though some companies have definitely felt the pain of the past few years, our industry revenues and fleet increase should point towards a prosperous future." He continued: "With 34 per cent of the current order book made up of new orders signed in 2011, it suggests a good market position.
"Yes, the economic shifts in the world economy are still happening and, yes, governments are squeezing tax revenues, attempting to reduce their domestic debt piles and subsequently targeting the wealthy, but there is definitely a clear position in the HNWI [high-net-worth-individuals] sector, that the rich have got richer. We just need to ensure that yachting, and the opportunity to invest in this emerging industry, delivers a positive message."
dblack@thenational.ae
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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