KUWAIT CITY, June 13, (KUNA): The number of those who own and use yachts are on the increase, specialists said here on Sunday, pointing out that the main problem facing yacht owners and traders are the lack of marinas or dry parking lots near the sea to absorb the annual increase in yachts.
The specialists asserted in separate interviews with KUNA that yachts and boats market in Kuwait is one of the biggest in the Middle East as sea is considered a main recreation in the country.
Further, yachts club supervisor at the Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) Mohammad Al-Youssef said that there is a lack of marinas suitable for receiving and docking of yachts, as the club only has 350 marinas and they cannot be increased for reasons related to safety, yachts’ protection against accidents and the marina’s capacity. He added that there are big yachts that require more spaces inside the marina which further compounds the problem.
He went on to say that the TEC has several marinas in different areas like Al-Fahaheel, Al-Shaab and Al-Khairan, besides the low-cost dry marinas that are established on the beach according to the same specifications of sea marinas with the aim of solving the problem of lack of marinas.
The cost of building a dry marina for a one yacht ranges between KD 600 and KD 2,000 annually for every yacht, Al-Youssef said.
He called for adopting the idea of the multi-storey marinas through constructing dry marinas near to the beaches in order to reduce costs and facilitate the protection of yachts as this will help owners store their yachts in the seasons when they are not used.
Meanwhile, Chairperson and Director General of Kuwaiti Seas and Deserts Group Ahmad Al-Ameeri said that Kuwait is considered one of the countries that sees a high turnout on yachts, and so this is an important country for yachts manufacturing plants, pointing that Kuwaiti market accounts for a big percentage of demand for yachts compared with other Middle Eastern markets.
Al-Ameeri made clear that yachts in demand in Kuwait are often have sizes ranging between 40 and 75 feet and it is related to the availability of a marina and the client’s purchasing power, noting that the boats in demand in Kuwait are owned by those who have marinas.
He also noted that the most optimal and ideal yachts in Kuwait range between 50 and 60 feet.
Asked on the Kuwaitis’ demand for expensive yachts, he answered by saying that some Kuwaitis seek to buy high-ticket yachts, but with a low percentage, pointing out that those yachts with prices exceeding KD one million are usually bigger than 70 feet and so they are in low demand as they need big marinas.
Finally, he said that clientele were ready before the global economic crisis to pay big sums of money that reach up to KD 200 for marinas, but now they are not poised to pay such sums besides the price of the desired yacht.