The Dutch capital of Amsterdam is already a city with global allure, renowned the world over for its iconic buildings. Now the city will also be the launch pad for some of the finest superyachts available, matched only by those built at the other three Feadship yards.
Together with the other leading yachtbuilders in the Netherlands, Feadship forms a vital part of the Dutch superyacht cluster, which includes a wide range of leading supply companies and research institutes.
This month, Feadship has celebrated a major milestone in the construction of its fourth shipyard, located in a prime water-side location in the heart of Amsterdam. In the presence of invited guests, the first concrete was poured into the giant drydock, part of an impressive feat of engineering involved in building such a facility in a city that is several metres under sea level. When completed at the end of 2018, the yard will also include a giant hall for building new superyachts of up to 160 metres in length along with refits of existing Feadships.
The Amsterdam yard will be the second facility operated by Royal Van Lent, which will also continue to operate its Kaag Island yard at full capacity. The two premises will share the same management team, with some 450 employees from across the spectrum of outfitting and refit activities moving between the facilities when required. Along with the two Feadship yards run by Koninklijke De Vries in Aalsmeer and Makkum, there will now be a total of four Feadship facilities in the Netherlands.
“This major investment illustrates our determination to be fully future-proof,” explains Feadship director and the CEO of Royal Van Lent Jan-Bart Verkuyl. “The average length of the superyachts we are building continues to grow: the majority of projects currently underway are above 80 metres and there is a clear trend to go ever larger. The size limitations imposed by the location of the two original Feadship yards in Aalsmeer and Kaag were partly solved by the third yard opened in Makkum in 2005, and this fourth facility in the Port of Amsterdam will complete this expansion.”
Feadship is one of the largest employers within the global superyacht industry, with over 2000 specialists covering every discipline involved in the design, engineering, naval architecture and construction of luxury motoryachts. The new yard means that Feadship will have the opportunity to employ around 150 additional specialised craftsmen.
image: Feadship’s Lady Christine at the Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous 2017
