English - MTU Onsite Energy

Mostafa Agib El Nahta (left) is Gulf
Craft’s Operations & Technical Manager.
He has been fitting MTU engines for
20 years.
«Fuel-efficiency is where MTU scores extra points.
Which is important, because nothing is more tiresome
than refueling. »
Mostafa Agib El Nahta, Operations & Technical Manager, Gulf Craft
because – unlike Europeans – they were not at
all keen on lying in the sun. “Building for U.A.E.
means building for the world,” he states. Twenty
percent of Gulf Craft clients come from Europe,
40 percent from the Gulf region and 25 percent
from Asia.
However, the speed at which the market is
expanding presents Gulf Craft with more than
just advantages. “We are living in a culture
of change and uncertainty,” Erwin Bamps
illuminates. So he wasn’t sure how the wages of
his staff would develop. And suppliers had to be
frequently changed because businesses were
constantly disappearing and being replaced by
others. One thing was certain, however: The
market has potential.
Breaking down complexity
“Seventy percent of the world is covered with
water but only thirty percent of people have ever
been on a boat,” he says, positively bursting with
enthusiasm. So you couldn’t help but see the
potential of the yacht business. And he has an
idea how to convince even more people to buy
a yacht. “Yachts need to be easier to operate,”
he observes. He believes that up to now it has
simply been too complicated to own a yacht
– you need a crew and are hardly ever allowed
to steer the boat yourself. “If I buy a yacht I get
an instruction manual the size of a phone book;
but ultimately, a yacht is nothing more than a
great big toy which I want to be able to play
with without having to wade through reams of
instructions,” he expounds with another of his
interesting comparisons.
As he does, he laughs and his voice gets louder.
This is undoubtedly a man who is convinced of
what he is saying. Almost silent by comparison
is Mostafa Agib El Nahta. He is the Operations &
Technical Manager at Gulf Craft and meets us in
the engine room of a new Majesty 135. The yacht
is standing there in all its magnificence, waiting
to be set afloat for the first time. In a couple of
days, that time will have arrived. It will be a big
moment for Mostafa, because he and his team
having been building the yacht for a year and
a half. The most striking feature of the yacht is
its golden hull, though the engines take some
beating for aesthetic appeal as well – gleaming
white with sparkling chrome cylinder heads.
Mostafa admires them adoringly. The two MTU
Series 4000s will each supply 2,580 kilowatts of
propulsive power. The buyer? “Secret,” whispers
Mostafa. It is a VIP is all he can reveal. He would
rather talk about the fact that it is the biggest
yacht Gulf Craft has ever built.
Range decisive
For 16 years, Mostafa has been responsible for
ensuring that an initial plan turns into a finished
yacht. He comes from Egypt but U.A.E. is his
home. He is sure that yacht-building will expand
enormously. It isn’t just the yachts that need
to be easier to operate; the same is true of the
engines, he concedes. “MTU can still improve in
that regard,” the engineer ventures. It appears
almost painful for him to say it. “These engines
are the Lamborghinis of yacht engines. They
are very powerful, but unfortunately not always
easy to operate,” he said. “But I know that MTU
is working on it, and a lot has already been
done,” he adds, almost apologetically. He looks
across with a smile at Walid Ibrahim from MTU
distributors Al Masood of U.A.E. and Bahrain.
The two know each other well and meet regularly.
“We have been fitting MTU engines for 20 years,
and for us, Al Masood is not only a supplier but
also a trusted partner,” he said: a partner with
whom he constantly discusses the latest trends
in the yacht business. And complexity is not the
only issue the two have identified. Fuel-efficient
engines are just as important to clients. “And
that is where MTU scores extra points,” Mostafa
says with a smile. He is certain that the price
of diesel will rise in the next few years and so
sees economical engines playing an important
role, from the point of view of range as well as
cost – because “nothing is more tiresome than
refueling."
With a length of 40 meters (135 feet) the “Majesty 135”
is the biggest yacht built by Gulf Craft.
40 I MTU Report 03/12