Boat show opens at Marine Club

A boat show fit for a prince opened Tuesday under a heavy turnout by the country's media.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai arrived at Dubai International Marine Club and was quickly making waves as he and a large entourage of VIPs and security made their way through the exhibits.

With 810 companies, there was lots to see for the prince who made his first stop at Nakheel's newest venture, Nakheel Marinas which has pledged to build thousands of new berths to make up for a critical shortage of boat space in the UAE.

Nakheel Marina director Saeed Harib was unavailable on site for comment but in a statement said that the venture will fill a big need for boats that are selling more and more in UAE.

“Nakheel's vision is to create a standard of marinas viewed as being, at least, comparable with the best in the world. We are excited about the future possibilities that our waterfront developments hold for our marina development and we intend to provide the highest quality of facilities for our marinas,'' he said.

Shaikh Hamdan's next stop in the boat show was at a stand set up by VIP-Secure Yacht, a German company that sells a new technology that boosts wireless signals to be received by cell phones and laptops from inside areas such as boats.

Company President Markus C. Kneher told XPRESS that the technology is called GSM Repeater and that it came on the market in the last year.

“What is the point of spending millions on a new yacht if you cannot use your cell phone to call from inside,'' he said. “The newer boats are shielded with different glass and it can be difficult for sun waves and phone waves to get in or out of them.''

Shaikh Hamdan visited several key boat manufacturers, including Alghanim Marine which had a speedboat on display.

He also visited large boat aptly dubbed Majesty 88.

To board the boat he stepped on a place mat on the swim platform which touted the builders as “Majesty Yachts, A Royal Cruising Experience.''

His tour continued to take in other boat makes such as Leopard, Viking and Sunseeker.

Organisers of the Dubai International Boat Show are happy with the turnout noting there is a 10 per cent increase in the number of companies from 48 countries participating.

Last year there were roughly 25,000 visitors to the show and that number is expected to climb this week as potential buyers take in 400 boats and yachts at the show.

Organisers said that marine industry is a growth business given the boom in the UAE.

“The Gulf region is witnessing massive growth on an unprecedented sale in reclaimed island sites and water side developments.''

The show closes March 15.