English - MTU Onsite Energy

Marine
Erwin Bamps (left) and Walid Ibrahim of MTU 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 MTU
would play an important part in the project.
“We have an excellent working relationship with
MTU 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
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MTU Report 03/12 I 43