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Marine Erwin Bamps (left) and Walid Ibrahim of <strong>MTU</strong> Distributor Al Masaood (right) are in regular contact. After one and a half years under construction, the 'Majesty 135' was launched in March 2012 on the 30th anniversary of Gulf Craft. The wedding planner Erwin Bamps is now striding through the factory sheds. He laughs and waves to an employee in the distance. “We are the United Nations here,” he relates with a chuckle. Staff from almost 80 different countries work together here. In the front part of the building they are making a new Majesty 135, the same length and size as the one outside the shed waiting to be set afloat on the water. But this one is just having its windows fitted; there is a lot of hammering and drilling going on. Bamps is already looking forward to handing over the craft to the client. And, as ever, he is aiming to make miracles come true. The elusive “wow effect” is what he wants. “If the customer is happy, that’s great. But we want more. We want them to be delighted when they get their yacht,” he says with conviction. He points out that achieving that isn’t so easy, because most customers are not interested in the technology, only the design. “We are selling ice cream, and everyone has their own favorite flavor.” Another one of those curious metaphors. What have ice cream and yachts got to do with each other? Erwin Bamps laughs. He explains Left: Mohammed Al Shaali founded Gulf Craft 30 years ago. Even then, his ambition was to one day make Gulf Craft the world’s biggest yacht-building shipyard. «My yacht has to be powerful, reliable and fitted with the latest equipment. » Mohammed Al Shaali, Chiarman of Gulf Craft that, just like design, ice cream is a matter of taste, and selling taste is a difficult job. “It’s funny. Our clients are interested in almost nothing but the design. And they have very precise ideas in that regard. But yacht-building is actually all about technology; for us, the design is the last part of the process.” He tells of customers who ask for a helipad on a ten-meter yacht. Or another who wanted his bathroom painted completely green. Yet another wanted the hull covered entirely in Swarovski crystals. “Sometimes I start to feel like a wedding planner,” he says with laugh. “The clients have an idea in their minds that they can’t exactly describe. So it is my job to find out what it is they have always dreamed of and build a yacht just like it,” the self-styled wedding planner elucidates. Powerful, reliable, innovative It was presumably a lot easier when he built a yacht for his boss, Mohammed Al Shaali, the chairman of Gulf Craft, because he knew exactly what he wanted: “My yacht has to be powerful, reliable and fitted with the latest equipment,” he said with a smile. It was obvious that <strong>MTU</strong> would play an important part in the project. “We have an excellent working relationship with <strong>MTU</strong> and the distributor Al Masaood,” he said quietly. A few years ago, Gulf Craft was still a niche supplier and he had never dreamed that his boatyard would one day become so big. But now, the aim is clear: “Reach the number one spot.“ And Erwin Bamps has never forgotten that. You can tell that he has been working in U.A.E. for some years. The can-do mentality appears to be infectious. Could he have imagined ten years ago that he would be planning proper weddings and baking five-tiered wedding cakes? Hardly. But if you asked him today, the answer would be an unhesitating “Absolutely!”. Words: Lucie Dammann Pictures: Robert Hack To find out more, contact: Walid Magd E. Ibrahim mtuauh@emirates.net.ae Tel. +971 2 551 0707 More on this… Slide-show with impressions of Gulf Craft Don’t have a QR code reader? Go to http://bit.ly/ZrutGS ONLINE <strong>MTU</strong> Report 03/12 I 43