'Competition is fierce': UAE yacht maker on taking business global amid billionaire boom

Boat building and maritime life have been key parts of Emirati culture for generations, with the modern manufacture of luxury yachts the latest iteration of this in the UAE.

Gulf Craft rose from a small, local boat building yard in 1982. Four decades on, the company is taking on international heavy hitters in the luxury yachting market, and bringing its unique, bespoke approach to ship building.

From its 43,000-square metre shipyard in Umm Al Quwain, the company has built more than 10,000 boats, with the most luxury model known as the Rolls-Royce of the seas. At 56 metres, Gulf Craft's flagship Majesty 175 is the world’s largest composite-production megayacht.

What's more, a new 74,000-square metre facility is due to open in the Maldives, complementing its existing 9,300-square metre manufacturing yard in the atolls.

Meticulous production line

More than 300 people will build the Majestic 175 over a three-year period. Costas Eliopoulos, chief process officer at Gulf Craft, said boat building can be broken down into a series of steps on a production line, with forensic attention to detail providing customers with the yacht of their dreams.

“Boat building is still craftsmanship,” said Mr Eliopoulos. “It's like buying traditional shoes. With most expensive shoemakers, you cannot machine them, and they always have to be handmade. Rolls-Royce, is another example: even though a lot of the components are done by machines, as we are also doing, the final touch is always by hand.”

The first stage is to create a mould for the model of yacht to be built. A cast is dropped into water and then laminated with layers of fibreglass to form decks and the ship’s hull. Once the yacht is released from its mould, it is moved to a production line where most of the work begins.

Inside the giant air-conditioned warehouse are several yachts side by side, bow to stern. Each has its own production team of engineers and craftsmen who work together to build the finished product over months, and sometimes years.

Joiners and carpenters put together the woodwork and interior panels of each yacht once the metalwork – including the piping and tanks – is completed. Once the frame, figures and fittings are in place, electrical components are installed in modular stages after being tested. It is then these yachts are moved outside for the first time to begin trials on water.

Sea testing

The sea trials include a detailed check for faults, with interaction from the buyer and their prospective crew, to check for any last-minute adjustments or customisation. “It is then we'll do the handover sea trial according to the specification,” said Mr Eliopoulos.

“The vessel is tested, validated by the customer and signed off. Training is done for the crew, so they know how to operate it, and then we have a dispatch. Initially, the curve is low of the manpower demand you have. Then gradually, as you go into the assembly line, it becomes a huge effort and a lot of man hours, and a ramp-up in that curve. For a smaller vessel we may have 6 to 12 people, and then on a larger vessel, it can be over 300.”

The Majesty 175 has a range of around 4,420 nautical miles or around 8,185km. It has seven state rooms across four decks, an owners’ suite on the upper level, a private swimming pool and an outdoor lounge. There is also a saloon, dining area and several decks for al fresco entertaining.

Taste of luxury

The UAQ shipyard also produces long-range Nomad Yachts, the luxury catamaran SilverCat and smaller Oryx Cruisers, monohull vessels designed for those with a lighter budget who still want to enjoy a taste of luxury at sea.

Mohammed Hussein Alshaali, chairman of Gulf Craft, said new buyers want to spend more time at sea, and want more space and specifications as a result. “The main change in the international yachting industry is where, before it was only in Europe and the US, now it's all over the world,” Mr Alshaali told The National.

“What is changing is the way people use their boats, and the way they are designed. Now they are more related to lifestyle rather than just used to go fast from one place to another. People are now enjoying them, so we have more space inside and outside the boat – people are living on the yachts.”

Costs range from $2 million per vessel to $40 million, with an average of about 200 boats manufactured each year at the UAE yard, 30 of them luxury superyachts. Gulf Craft sells vessels in Europe, the US, Australia and South-east Asia.

The global yacht market is experiencing robust growth. A report from Emergen Research estimates it will reach $21.16 billion by 2032 – up from $11.2 billion in 2022.

“The Emirati people are linked to the sea – we are a nation of seafarers,” said Mr Alshaali. “In the Emirates, we have two communities: those who live in the shores and beaches, and those who are seafarers, traders, fishermen and pearl divers. We are all related to the water, one way or another. But it's a fierce market, so it takes time, hard work and quality to prove yourself.”