North Aegean Yachts (Kuzey Aegean Yachting), a shipyard based in Ayvalık, Balıkesir, completed its factory investment suitable for mass production with a closed area of 6,000 m2 on a 30,000 m2 land in late 2013. The company produced prototypes of the 9.32-meter Trawler 30 and 15.78-meter Trawler 50 models and started mass production of both models.
North Aegean, which has sold six boats in the Trawler 30 model, has also delivered a lobster and a 12-meter sailboat to their owners. The company, which carries out turnkey boat production with its construction, furniture, paint, varnish, upholstery, metal and stainless steel, mechanical and electrical workshops, has the infrastructure and an experienced team to produce different types of private and commercial boats up to 36 meters in length. North Aegean's Trawler 30 model, which was launched for the first time this year at the Istanbul Boat Show, was among the boats that attracted the most attention. Ahmet Aksoy, Production Manager of North Aegean Yachts, made the following statements to our magazine about the establishment and development of the shipyard, the projects they have realized and their targets:
“Our company was established as a small workshop in Ayvalık in 2011. In the summer of 2012, our factory construction started. At the end of 2013, the installations of our CNC, furniture, stainless steel, upholstery, varnish, electrical and mechanical workshops were completed. In the first quarter of 2014, we started to produce the first prototypes of our small boats.”
Our Trawler 50 model is ready for launch
“Our first model boats were made with wooden epoxy laminated system. After the sale of our first boat, we participated in the Haliç Boat Show with the prototype model of our Trawler 30 Weekender model. Our boat attracted interest at the fair. In the summer of 2014, the model of the boat was produced and mold production started. Mold production was finished in February 2015. Then the actual mass production started. We have two boats, Trawler 30 and Trawler 50, which are currently in production. Our Trawler 50 model was built as epoxy laminated. It is ready to be launched.”
Our Trawler 30 model is being mass-produced
“The serial production of our Trawler 30 model continues at the factory. Currently, 12 units that will be in stock are being produced. We have sold 6 boats in the Trawler 30 model, four in Turkey and two abroad. We are a new company. We are trying to promote our company by participating in domestic and international fairs. We participated in the Istanbul Boat Show with our demo boat and Trawler 30 model. Our model was first launched at this fair. There is a serious investment; we are trying to develop our company both in production and marketing in order to get the return on this investment. Our goal is to regularly mass produce boats in certain sizes. In addition to this, we have also produced customized boats. We made a 12-meter sailboat and a lobster boat for a hotel owner customer.”
North Aegean Yachts Production Manager Shipbuilding Engineer Ahmet Aksoy:
“The owner of North Aegean is an industrialist businessman. There is a serious investment; we are trying to develop our company both in production and marketing in order to get a return on this investment. Our goal is to mass produce boats in certain sizes. We are concentrating on our production in order to ensure continuity. Our factory is very suitable for mass production. We need to produce continuously.”
We focus on our production to ensure continuity
“Our factory is very suitable for mass production. We need to produce continuously. There is no fluidity in customized production. You receive an order but you are waiting for the second one. We concentrate on our production in order to ensure continuity. In order to maintain quality consistently and to keep our production costs under control, we carry out design, engineering and manufacturing for production as much as possible in-house. Everything from the polyester manufacturing of the boats, paint, varnish, furniture and upholstery is done in our own factory. Our stainless steel and furniture workshops are very advanced. We get support from professionals on the issues we need such as acoustic insulation. Producing sailor boats of unquestionable quality, which will serve for many years and where structural strength is at the forefront, has an important place in the development of our company.”
2016 is an important year for us to create a marketing network
“2016 is an important year for us to create a marketing network both at home and abroad. Fairs are an important medium for us in terms of marketing. We directly carry out the domestic marketing of our boats. We continue our efforts to find distributors for overseas marketing. We participated in the Hanseboot Boat Show in Hamburg at the end of October. We have a distributor in Germany with whom we have a sales agreement. We are working to exhibit the boat we sent to Germany at the Berlin Boat Show. Next year we will take part in the Düssseldorf Boat Show and CNR Eurasia Boat Show. There are very few companies in Turkey that make domestic production as they should. At the moment, we are the company that produces the highest number of the same boat at a certain time in terms of mass production in Turkey.”
“With the decline in the sector in recent years, fairs have also started to be affected. In fact, the exhibition season all over the world is the fall season. I do not think that the Istanbul Boat Show was held on the wrong date in early October, but the fair coincides with bad weather conditions every year. Maybe if September is preferred, the fair can be more productive. We also want to participate in the fair to be organized next year.”
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