Sunreef expands Ras Al Khaimah site to boost catamaran production

Sunreef’s Ras Al Khaimah buildout is no longer just a footprint on a map. It has become a production base with real weight behind it: a 65,000-square-meter site, a 180-meter jetty, and an additional 15,000-square-meter industrial area dedicated to furniture, woodwork and stainless steel manufacturing.

That matters for owners waiting on custom sailing and power catamarans, because the yard is not simply assembling boats in the Emirates. Sunreef has been pushing more of the build chain into local hands, a move aimed at tightening quality control, improving production timelines and reducing the bottlenecks that can slow down highly personalized multihulls. For buyers in the Gulf and the wider Indian Ocean cruising circuit, that can translate into better scheduling, more dependable delivery planning and stronger regional support once the yacht is handed over.

The UAE expansion began in 2022, when Sunreef said it was investing nearly €30 million in a new overseas center in Ras Al Khaimah to answer rising demand from the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 2023, the company said it had entered into cooperation with RAK Maritime City on a 65,000-square-meter land reserve. By early 2024, the first halls were already operational, and Sunreef said the site would see a 50% increase in human resources by mid-2024.

The early focus was the Ultima range, and the orderbook quickly followed. BOAT International reported about 35 models sold for construction at the UAE shipyard, including 15 units from the 88 Ultima series. That is the kind of workload that signals confidence from brokers and buyers alike, especially in a market where premium catamarans are judged on customization, fit-out quality and delivery certainty as much as on speed and styling.

Sunreef said the Ras Al Khaimah facility now employs more than 1,100 specialists, while another 2026 report put the UAE workforce at more than 1,300 people from over 40 nationalities, with plans to grow to about 2,000 employees. The site can currently produce more than 50 yachts annually, and Sunreef has tied that capacity to a broader €30 million industrial expansion program across Gdańsk and Ras Al Khaimah, alongside a €1 billion annual revenue target by 2030.

For the multihull scene, the message is clear. Sunreef is treating the UAE as a real production hub, not a satellite yard, and that kind of scale can shape delivery calendars, aftersales confidence and the pace of luxury catamaran supply across the region.