Aegean Yacht discuss an honest approach to yacht building

Aegean Yacht are a major component in the burgeoning new build sector in the Eastern Mediterranean. Instead of luring the ultra-rich into the yachting realm with whimsical promises of grand design and next-generation technology, Aegean Yacht makes their stance perfectly clear - they build real sea-worthy, functional vessels for rational and passionate clients. The Turkish yacht builders have recently teamed up with world-renowned designer, Riza Tansu, to deliver on their joint mission of creating a fleet of superyachts that are designed for purpose rather than extravagance.

At the time of writing, Aegean Yacht are building one 66m motoryacht, a 39m sailing yacht and two 26m motoryachts - one of which will be launched in a few weeks' time. In collaboration with Riza Tansu, they will begin building a 37m and 40m motoryacht over the next couple of months. With a history that dates back to 1976, the company have built a total of 52 yachts over the last 44 years. Fortunately for them, the yacht builders claim that they do not have a ‘space problem’, their seafront yard is roughly 40,000 sqm and includes three enormous hangars.

Speaking to SuperyachtNews, Riza Tansu explained, “I am a believer in simplicity, I just don't believe in trends. I think this way is the way to go in yacht building and it's what 97 per cent of our clients are looking for. So they are not looking for some crazy interesting design with lots of hidden features and all that James Bond-ish stuff. Our client profile is slightly different. They are people who know the yachting world, they are usually car collectors with a very high taste. They want simple, seaworthy, practical, minimalistic designs.”

This approach to building yachts is a refreshing one in the grand scheme of the industry, although they are not the oldest shipyard in Europe, they do boast a team that has been working together in harmony for decades under the expertise of their founder - Sinan Ozer. 

The majority of their workshops are in-house and even the subcontractors are businesses which were born out of the Aegean Yacht name. Ozer is of the opinion that it is their efficiency, resilience, and speed that has bought them their reputation of always delivering yachts on time.

Riza Tansu

Speaking on the reason for the company's long-standing success, Ozer stated, “Bodrum is located at the southwest corner of Turkey where the Mediterranean meets the Aegean Sea, so it's the place where people want to be. Bodrum is a lively town in summer and winter where both the building crew and the owners can enjoy life while they watch their boats being built. So I think our location helps to provide quite an enjoyable build experience for all our workers as well as with the owners and their representatives. It's actually quite a lot of fun - and it should be fun. At the end of the day, we are building for our customers and we enjoy being with them, dining with them, and building an incredible yacht as a joint mission. We actually really like it when the customer is deeply involved in the design and the build periods because I think that helps to create the right environment for everyone involved.”

Despite their apparent success and refreshing strategy, the company are not entirely without their challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously affected the supply chain, and for many shipyards, the prices for materials and equipment have doubled and in some cases tripled - this situation has of course worsened since Russia waged war over Ukraine in February. Ozer explained that “Yacht builders nowadays are walking on eggshells. It is very difficult to stay on budget with these highly volatile prices. Delivery times are incredibly long and engines and generators can take as long as one year to arrive.”

Sinan Ozer

However, Ozer explains how the company are able to curb some of these challenges by making up in other areas, “We build rational boats for rational clients. This is exactly the point where we coincide with Tansu Design. We both enjoy creating practical, down-to-earth vessels with a strong balance of style and function. Riza is very good at fine-tuning his designs with lightning speed, this ultimately accelerates our building process.” As experienced boat owners, Ozer and Tansu are able to understand the client's perspective with unique clarity. “We both spend a lot of time on our boats and we rarely make a design or engineering mistake that is going to be difficult and expensive to correct.”

The all-around attitude and understanding of what's needed to have a winning formula in the superyacht new build sector is clearly evident at Aegean Yacht. They are not another company that simply says yes to every client with deep pockets. They have an envious marketing strategy that proves they aren’t in the yacht building business to disrupt the market and get everyone else's attention. Aegean Yacht are an honest family business that build proper seaworthy vessels for wealthy individuals that love yachting, and believe it or not, that is quite a special claim to have in the superyacht industry.

source:superyachtnews.com

BY MAX STOTT