Kuwait gets sea fever as yacht demand soars

Al Boom Marine, the Kuwait agent for Gulf Craft Inc, the leading UAE builder of luxury yachts, reports sales of about 80 vessels in the past 12 months, from weekend runabouts to the up-market Majesty 75.

'We have a new marina now that makes mooring less of a problem, and that coupled with a surge in disposable income has led to unprecedented demand for boats and yachts,' says Adel Al Sumait, managing director of Al Boom.

Roughly 75 per cent of total sales have been in the pleasure craft sector, including many of Gulf Craft's Ambassador Class yachts up to 36-feet in overall length.

Al Boom has also been responsible for selling the first six Oryx 40 sports cruisers to be built by Gulf Craft, after the Oryx series was revealed at the 2005 Dubai International Boat Show.

But the high-value business has come from the upper ranges of Gulf Craft products, starting with the Ambassador 44 and extending to the Majesty Yachts flagship series, where Al Boom has two Majesty 75s on order.

'Yachting and boating in Kuwait is really on an upward growth trend,' says Al Sumait. 'We are seeing the effects of increased oil revenues, inward investment, and a general surge in the economy.

'I have no doubt that the market will continue to grow, as borne out by the number of sales we have under negotiation and trend to purchase bigger and more luxurious vessels right across the range.'

Gulf Craft's executive manager Erwin Bamps says Kuwait is developing as an increasingly important market for the company, especially for high-end models such as the Majesty Yachts range.

Kuwait customers were very prominent at the recent Dubai International Boat Show, where the company concluded sales worth more than $10 million and generated enquiries worth at least as much again.

Middle East buyers ordered two Majesty 88 luxury yachts, a model that made its debut at this year's boat show, and the same number of Majesty 66 luxury yachts were confirmed, underlining the continued interest in this 2004 introduced Majesty Yacht.

Gulf Craft's new strategic alliance with Kuwait's Rehal Logistics is a further stimulus to new business from Kuwait, the resulting financial injection helping to create additional manufacturing facilities while synergies with Rehal give access to fast-growing new markets.

Rehal's Oqyana project - the 'Australia' component of the UAE's World Islands development - makes provision for about 1,500 private yacht berths and a marina with capacity for more than 1,000 boats and yachts.

'Synergies of the this nature - along with other group projects - will give Gulf Craft Inc distinct advantages in its further rise to market prominence in the global boating and yachting arena,' says Bamps.

Gulf Craft is one of a handful of specialist yacht-builders worldwide with the skills and capacity to produce vessels of more than 100 feet in overall length. It already exports more than 70 per cent of its annual production of around 400 craft.