Business of luxury yachts

We read and hear the various “buys” and crazy things which many of these Arabs do. That’s what oil money does to you is also a very famous quip we hear w.r.t these Arabs. And now there is one more to add this list. Mohammed al-Barwani , oil tycoon of Oman is building a yacht which beats all. It will be 92-meter (301-foot) vessel, which is longer than a football field! This luxurious yacht will have nine bedrooms, a spa and a suite decorated with champagne-colored upholstery and a swirling zebra-stripe motif on terra cotta and eramosa-stone walls.

Al-Barwani owns one of Oman’s biggest non-state controlled companies. The business operates in oil and gas exploration, drilling services and mining, and had sales of $1.3 billion in 2012. His net worth is estimated to be at least $1.3 billion. He created his first company in 1982, while working as an oil engineer with Petroleum Development of Oman. He ran the 60-person construction business for three years, until he was approached by an oil drill bit vendor who was looking for a supplier in Oman.

He  in fact bought Dutch Oceano, the shipyard and the same company is now building his big yacht. These luxury motor vessels are marketed almost exclusively to the world’s billionaires, and usually are priced starting at about $175 million. This industry is dominated by two other companies: Bremen-Vegesack, Germany-based Luerssen Werft GmbH and Haarlem, the Netherlands-based Feadship Royal Dutch Shipyards. Both family-owned enterprises trace their roots to the 1870s. And Oceano comes in third place. Who says oil and water do not go together?