Gulf Craft Opens Advanced Yacht-Manufacturing Training Centre
Gulf Craft has recently opened a purpose-built inhouse Yacht Manufacturing Training Centre at its Umm Al Quwain shipyard. The facility will provide more than 3,000 training hours a year, up-skilling new recruits and experienced staff across the Majesty, Nomad, Oryx and SilverCAT brands. Covering 200 sq m (2,153 sq ft), the centre accommodates 30 trainees a week – about 350 graduates a year – and includes a fully equipped classroom, six specialist workshops and three CAD labs that mirror production-line technology.
Five core disciplines are:
- Fibreglass & Composite Application
- Marine Systems & Smart Electrical Installations
- Precision Luxury Interiors & Finishing
- Mechanical Fitting & Stainless-Steel Fabrication
- Digital Design, CAD, CAM & Production Optimisation
- Each new joiner completes 100 supervised shop-floor hours and earns an internal first-level certificate – an early milestone in a Gulf Craft career.
Master craftsmen will receive monthly refreshers and training on emerging technologies, while new supplier and academic partnerships will introduce cutting-edge materials and processes. “In order to drive innovation acceleration, Gulf Craft is investing in becoming an even faster learning organisation”, – says Erwin Bamps, the CEO of Gulf Craft. “We have created our new employee training programs in response to today’s dynamic leisure marine market, which demands an agile manufacturing environment where highly trained and multi-skilled workers are essential.
“Over the past four years Gulf Craft has delivered thousands of hours of advanced CAD and CAM training to its engineers and draftsmen, – adds Kostas Christodoulou, Chief Technical Officer, Gulf Craft. “Every yacht we now build has a digital twin – an exact virtual replica used throughout design and production. To translate that precision into physical quality, we must equip each new craftsperson with the same advanced skills and give our master tradespeople continuous opportunities to refine theirs. Ultimately, a yacht’s quality is defined by the human touch.” The Training Centre turns skills into a strategic advantage and underscores Gulf Craft’s commitment to nurturing world-class expertise and keeping it within the UAE’s only fully integrated yacht-building group.