Superyacht with a price to match

The Majesty 155, the largest yacht in the Middle East, was launched by UAQ-based ship builders Gulf Craft in UAQ on Saturday.

The Majesty 155 launched under the watchful eye of Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu’alla, Ruler of Umm Al Quwain. Victor Besa for The National

UMM AL QUWAIN // It cost Dh90 million, is 155 feet long, has 10 bedrooms and two jet skis, can host a party for 250 people and would be the envy of all your pals at the yacht club.

But before you think about raiding the bank account to snap up the Majesty 155, the largest yacht in the Middle East has been sold to a superwealthy GCC resident for cruising.

“Everything was made in this yacht for the convenience of the owner and it has the ability to cut the largest possible distance from continent to continent or country to country. This was created for long distance, fuel efficiency and speed,” said Mohammed Al Shaali, chairman of Gulf Craft, the Umm Al Quwain company that built the yacht.

The vessel is powered by twin 2,011hp engines and has a range of 4,200 nautical miles with a top speed of 16 knots.

Keeping the three-floor yacht moving requires a crew of 11 plus a captain, not that the owner will notice them from his purpose-built cigar lounge complete with tobacco-leaf ceiling.

“We follow the client’s expectation when building all our boats. We wanted to make sure that this ship is like a resort and people feel at peace. In the bedrooms, you feel like you don’t want to come out, it’s too relaxing,” said Erwin Bamps, chief executive of Gulf Craft.

The yacht took two and a half years to build and has extravagant fittings such as taps costing Dh100,000 each, premium fabric and leather, countertops made of onyx and marble and a water feature that cascades from the rear sundeck into a spa bath.

The Ruler of UAQ, Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu’allah, visited the dockyard to watch the yacht being launched on Saturday.

Mr Al Shaali said work had already begun on a second superyacht to rival Majesty 155.