http://www.ibi-plus.com International Boat Industry | JUNE–JULY 2018 65
SAUDI ARABIA
The Saudi Royal Family and other
wealthy businessmen own some of the
world’s largest superyachts. Facilities
for superyachts are limited within the
country presently, but there are new
developments planned in the Gulf
and the Red Sea which in the master
plans include marinas with superyacht
capacity.
Two massive city projects with
such marinas are the King Abdullah
Economic City, located north of Jeddah,
and the NEOM city project which is
opposite Sharm El Sheikh and includes
links between Saudi, Egypt and Jordan.
These are both long-term developments
and there are no details as yet as to when
the marinas will be operating.
More recently the Saudi government
announced that it is planning to build
the new 60km Salwa Canal along the
Saudi Arabian and Qatar border. If this
project goes ahead, which will effectively
make Qatar an island, there will be
marinas and other marine tourism
facilities included. The plans suggest
that the new canal will be 200m (656ft)
wide and have a depth of 15m-20m
(50ft-66ft).UAE
The UAE, with its seven emirates
including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is by
the far the biggest participant in the
superyacht sector in the GCC region.
The country’s leading player is
Gulf Craft, the Middle East’s largest
boat and yacht builder. Among its
four boat marques, its Majesty brand
includes several superyacht models in
the 30m-53m (80ft-175ft) size range. It
also had superyacht-sized models in its
Nomad range.
Operating five yards throughout the
Emirates, Gulf Craft is expanding into
larger superyachts with a 61m (200ft)
model planned to be built in steel and
aluminium, breaking with the previous
all-composite builds. In addition to the
it has a plant in the Maldives which
builds a range of smaller craft.
Gulf Craft is one of the largest
superyacht builders in the world and
has built some 60 such craft with
eight deliveries in 2017 and around 10
superyachts currently in build. The
move upwards is expected to see a
consistent expansion over the comingyears. Gulf Craft recently appointed
Gregory Yeakle as its new CEO with Erwin
Bamps, the former CEO, taking a new role
as advisor on international affairs to the
board.
A much smaller superyacht builder in
the UAE is Al Shaali Marine. In its current
range of yachts it has two superyacht-sized
models of 100ft and 130ft.
Dubai is home to the Dubai
International Boat Show (DIBS), which
is by far the most important event in the
region. The show attracts a large local and
international audience both in visitors
and exhibitors, with a strong superyacht
element well-supported by the members
of SYBAss and other builders. A new show,
the Abu Dhabi International Boat Show, is
scheduled to be held in October, and the
latest indications are that it will be well-
supported.
The whole of the UAE is well-served
by marina facilities with a number of newprojects underway which will significantly
increase the country’s capacity. In Dubai
alone, some 3,000 extra berths are being
developed including 1,400 up to 85m at the
Dubai Harbour project.
Another big development is at the
former Port Rashid commercial port, which
is in the process of being redeveloped as
Mina Rashid marina and includes the QE2
passenger liner and Dubai’s cruise terminal.
The first phase of Mina Rashid marina
has been completed with 400 berths
and a second phase will provide berths
for superyachts of 100m or more. This
development is being overseen by P&O
Marinas, a part of P&O Maritime Services
which is a division of the state-owned DP
World group.
The latter also includes ownership of
Drydocks World and Dubai Maritime City
(DMC). The former is set to develop a large
superyacht refit and repair facility within
the Drydocks World complex. DMC hasbeen developed as a marine repair and
refit centre with many companies active
across the yacht and commercial marine
areas having their own facilities within the
complex.
DMC offers synchrolifts of 3,000 and
6,000 tonnes, which are common user
options for all the marine companies in
DMC. It is planned also to expand the
marina facilities within the complex as the
demand arises. The Al Jadaf area on Dubai
Creek, which is the traditional vessel repair
and refit area with around 100 companies
based there, is due to be relocated to the
DMC in the future.
Abu Dhabi is also heavily involved in the
yacht sector with a mix of shipyards and
able to meet the needs of superyachts. Yas
Marina, with the Formula 1 track, is the best
known of these and it has the ability to take
superyachts up to 150m (492ft).
Another leading marina in Abu Dhabi
is Emirates Palace, which is able to
accommodate yachts up to 140m (460ft).
This is one of the facilities in the ART
Marine group’s marinas portfolio of
eight or more marinas it operates in the
region. ART Marine is the latest yacht
services company in the GCC and it also
sells superyachts through Ferretti group
dealerships.
Across the other emirates of Sharjah,
Ras-Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman and
Umm Al Quwain there are a number of
marinas which offer superyacht berths.
Throughout the UAE there is a strong
leaning to the marine sector, so a good
range of suppliers and service providers are
available.LEBANON
The main superyacht links in the Lebanon
are the annual Lebanon Boat Show, which
has superyacht exhibitors participating
and marinas with superyacht capacity. The
latter includes the Zaitunbay marina, which
can berth superyachts of more than 80m.JORDAN
With its very small coastline along the
Gulf of Aqaba, there are at least three
marinas including some berths for small
superyachts.ISRAEL
Israel is a destination for a number of
visiting superyachts and to cater for these,
the country has a small number of marinas
which include berths up to 75m.The Saudi government
is planning to build the
new 60km Salwa Canal along
the Saudi Arabian and Qatar
border... it will be 200m wide
and have a depth of
15m-20m