Asia's Super Yards

Yacht Style flags up a selection of leading Asian builders including four of the top 16 on the Global Order Book for superyachts, pioneering powercat producers in China and Thailand, a luxury phinisi shipyard in Indonesia and the UAE’s leading facilities.

- Nick Hung

Asia’s builders continue to be a significant force in the 24m-plus superyacht sector according to the 2020 Global Order Book, where four appear in the top 20 (a list slightly affected by the exclusion of two of last year’s top-four builders).

Taiwan’s Ocean Alexander and Horizon appear in the top 10, while UAE’s Gulf Craft is at 16, showing the continued popularity of these well-established shipyards founded in the 1970s and 1980s.

Meanwhile, China’s Heysea continues its remarkable rise to 12th in the list – having been in the top 30 since 2014 – as it prepares to operate a second production facility in southerly Guangdong province.

There are also exciting developments in the powercat sector as Aquila builds increasingly large models in Hangzhou, while Australia-founded brand ILIAD Catamarans has quickly established itself in the market, building designs from 50-90ft in Zhanjiang in southwestern Guangdong.

CL Yachts is a new brand in the luxury motor yacht sector, although it heralds from Asia’s most iconic and historic yacht builder, Cheoy Lee. Founded in Shanghai in the late 19th century, it has its head office in Hong Kong and a 120,000sqm production facility in nearby Doumen, west of Zhuhai.

Launched in 2018, CL Yachts has so far built its reputation on the CLB72, completing the fifth hull last December, and the CLA76. The yard is now preparing to launch hull number one of its flagship CLB88 designed by Milan-based Jozeph Forakis Design, the yacht winning the transportation category at last year’s US-based Good Design Awards.

Martin Lo, Director of CL Yachts, said: “When we began this journey, we had a strong vision for CL Yachts, to advance the luxury performance experience into uncharted territories, and to design with modern explorers in mind. Jozeph Forakis and his design team understood that vision, and were vital in bringing it to life.”