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One of regions most prolific builders is on the threshold of further expanding their operations. We visited Al Dhaen Craft to discover more. By Craig Barnett Photos Courtesy of Al Dhaen Craft

BUILDING A REPUTATION

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When discussing the GCC’s boat buildingscene, the influence of Al Dhaen Craft,based in Bahrain, simply cannot be ignored.Established almost 35 years ago the yardhas quickly grown to become one of themost prolific boat builders in the region andnow boasts an extensive international net-work of dealers throughout the ArabianGulf, Europe, Australasia, Africa and the Ca-ribbean Islands. Today the Al Dhaen Groupof companies comprises of the Al DhaenCraft Factory, along with their Sea SportsMarine Centres, Al Dhaen Service Centresand Al Dhaen Diving Schools – with their re-tail arm representing household names likeBeuchat, Cressi-Sub, Garmin, Jobe Sports,

Kohler Power Systems, Koshin Ltd, and bothMercury Marine and Suzuki Marine Engines.As one of the pioneers of fibreglass boatbuilding in the region, Al Dhaen has built adiverse portfolio of clients and, as we disco-vered during a visit to their facility in August,it’s not just leisure craft they are renown fordesigning and building. Standing resplen-dent in the holding area, ready for shippingto the Indian Government, stood twelvegleaming fast-patrol boats, ready to act asthe first line of defence in India’s anti-terro-rism operations. “The commercial aspect ofthe business is significant, especially whenthe leisure market slows,” Ziad AbouJaoude, Marketing Manager of Al Dhaen

told us. “It currently accounts for a signifi-cant part of our business, but this is fluid andchanges on an annual basis. When Mr. Hassan Al Dhaen started his me-chanical repair and service business in theearly 1970’s he could have had little ideahow big the concern would grow. When fi-breglass boats became popular in the regionin the 1980’s, the entrepreneur quicklyspotted an opportunity. Selling around 600craft a year, usually imported from factoriesin the UAE, Al Dhaen started building boatsthemselves. The craft were primarily simplefishing boats, but the fledgling companycontinuously strove to improve on whateverdesigns and build quality were available.

With two retail showrooms,

service centre, dive school, factory

for leisure and commercial builds,

Al Dhaen is a one stop shop.

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Determined to get things right from thestart, Al Dhaen employed experienced ma-nagement personnel from the USA, inves-ting heavily in expertise – a policy thatcontinues today with regular consultancy,training and company analysis taking place.“We recently employed the consultancy ser-vices of John Hardy, the famous founder ofHardy Boats,” Ziad tells us. “John’s companysold up to 8,000 small boats a year beforehe sold it, so any advice we could gain fromhim is invaluable. John analysed the com-pany and in his final report said ‘Mr. AlDhaen told me his intention has always beento build the best boat in the world – tell himhe can now stop - he is achieving his goal’.Quiet a compliment.”Taken on it’s own this comment could bepassed over as marketing hyperbole, butback in 1999 a USA’s magazine had already

As part of a continuous improvement programme, Al Dhaen Craft often

employ outside consultants to review their operations.

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corroborated John Hardy’s opinion. AlDhaen appeared in top position of a com-parative table of ‘Best fishing craft’, truly atribute when considering the size of theUSA’s boat building industry and how grud-gingly praise is paid to anything without a‘Made in the USA’ stamp on it!Having sold a large number of units into theUSA in the past, the company is now lookingat re-establishing themselves there after ahiatus period. “We’ve tentatively re-approa-ched the US market,” continues Ziad, “butwe’re taking our time in order to be sure wecan satisfy the demand. We’re also lookinggood in Australia with four dealers in thecountry. The new yacht lines we’re develo-ping are also proving popular in northernEurope, particularly Norway.” Over the lastthree years an average of around 27 per-cent of Al Dhaen’s production has servedthe domestic market, around 45 percentgoes around the Gulf and the remainder issold internationally.With regards to production, Al Dhaen havealways tried to remain one step ahead oftheir competition – through both technologyand their staff. “Our staff are assets and weinvest in their welfare and their training,”Ziad tells us. “Each member has a trainingprogramme which develops their career andensures the continued development of thecompany. We are also one of only six com-

panies in the world that employ the Spray-core method of construction, which re-quires a highly controlled environment andvery precise application. We also use a ho-neycomb core, so from the start our boatshave always been woodfree.”Remaining competitive through quality,price and flexibility has enabled Al Dhaento expand their leisure product line-up.While the company report producing up to200 small open fishing boats a year, it’s thelarger pleasure fleet that is currently beingconcentrated on for expansion – both up-wards and downwards in size. The 32ftScorpion and 36ft Wavebreaker centreconsole craft are currently the staple ofthe factory’s output, and they are remarka-bly eye-catching. We spotted a 360SF Wa-vebreaker in Lebanon recently and were sosmitten by the layout we assumed it was anexotic model from Italy or the USA - it tooka minute for us to identify it as an Wave-breaker. The addition of the SeaDan 400ProTarga has certainly enhanced the li-neup, along with the flybridge version, theSeaDan 400 ProFly.With plans to enter the yacht market, withvessels as big as 110ft, Al Dhaen are cur-rently constructing a new factory in Bah-rain. The new state-of-the-art facility willenable them to expand their operation interms of size and volume and there looks

to be exciting times ahead for the com-pany. They are also keen to stamp theirpresence on the Arabian Gulf and maxi-mise their potential in the region. “All VIPsin the Middle East own at least one AlDhaen craft,” asserts Ziad, “with at least 50percent owning three or more. We knowthe craft are popular here, so we need tofurther improve our market share. For thisreason after several years of absence,we’re planning to make a return to theDubai Boat show in 2011. We’ll have one ofthe largest stands and will be looking tolaunch new craft there.” It will be the idealtime to check out this local company thatonce again appears to be on the rise. •

With a new facility currently under construction, Al Dhaen craft are looking to dramatically expand their range.

Smaller craft will be added to the line-up, along with yachts up to 110-ft

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