After securing the contract for a second 80m superyacht, it’s safe to say that 2016 has been a productive year for Bilgin Yachts, which delivered the full custom superyacht M/Y Giaola-Lu to her Mexican owners in July. The Turkish shipyard is now left with four yachts under construction, with an average LOA of 63.8m, SuperyachtNews speaks to Executive Sales Director Yildirim Bilgin about this year’s activity.

“We had an exciting start to the year, as we had a contract in our pocket for a 80.1m project [The Bilgin 263-I] made at the end of the previous year,” says Yildirim Bilgin. Following the sale, construction began immediately and, upon completion, will be the largest yacht ever built in Turkey.

The excitement then continued for the shipyard after the second 80m hull was sold last month. “We’re honoured by the confidence that another of our existing clients has put in us to deliver such an exceptional vessel, which undoubtedly will bring Bilgin Yachts to another level,” continues Bilgin.

In 2016, Bilgin Yachts also began the construction of its new facility located in West Istanbul Marina, just 20 minutes from Istanbul Atatürk Airport. “With this new facility, the company will be expanding further with new 10,000m² outfitting sheds and headquarters in the spring of 2017.” This facility will be the location where both 80m yachts will finalise their construction following their launch.

“Overall we have had a very productive and promising year with all the exciting developments at the shipyard,” says Bilgin. A new marine furniture workshop was also launched this year, meaning that 90 per cent of work is now completed in-house. Furthermore, Bilgin was listed as the number one exporter in terms of export revenue by the Istanbul Exporters Association.

In addition to the two 80m projects, Bilgin has supplied an update on the two ongoing 48m speculative projects, known as underway at the facility. According to the yard, 55 per cent of the first Bilgin 156 has been completed; basic equipment such as the main engines and generators have been installed, while most of the technical equipment is an ongoing process. Furniture manufacturing is also nearing completion and some installation is underway, and the painting process has reached the final stage.

For the second hull, which began construction in April this year, construction has reached the 25-per-cent mark after the hull and aluminium structure was recently completed. The painting process has also started on the second hull, with the first layer of fairing.

With four motoryachts under construction, “We can say that the yard is acting at full capacity,” says Bilgin. However, the yard still has the capacity to start building another yacht. “We are currently working on new designs and evaluating the designer’s works at the moment, so we will be deciding on a new project in the coming year.”

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