Rose Damen, the third generation to run the superyacht division of Damen Shipyards, is looking to secure more orders from Asia. She particularly sees opportunities in Singapore, which has about 1,650 single-family offices.
oxygenOne thing Rose Damen learned while working in high-end finance before joining her family’s superyacht builder is that if you want high returns, shipbuilding may not be the best investment. Damen, managing director of Damen Yachting in the Netherlands, said shipbuilders usually have high inventory levels, which results in their profit margins falling into single digits, while some luxury goods manufacturers have profit margins as high as double digits.
“If you want to get on the Forbes list as quickly as possible, don’t open a shipyard,” Damen said in an interview on the sidelines of the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Bangkok last month.
Rose Damen, Managing Director of Damen Yachting, speaks during a panel discussion at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Bangkok on November 21, 2024.
Forbes Asia
Despite the challenges, the Damen family has managed to amass a vast fortune and run Damen Shipbuilding, one of the largest family-owned shipyards in Europe. Ross’s father, Comer, is one of the few billionaires in the field, thanks to his introduction of standardized and modular manufacturing from the automotive industry to the idea of building work boats, which shortened delivery times and reduced production. cost.
As the third generation to oversee Damen Shipyards’ superyacht division, Rose has inherited her father’s principles of standardized shipbuilding, which allow for some customization while ensuring what she claims is the fastest delivery in the industry (as fast as six months , while the average is three years). With that advantage in hand, Ross now hopes to secure more orders from Asia and ride the wave of the region’s growing affluent population. She aims to have Asia account for 25% of the company’s more than 1 billion euros (about $1 billion) of orders over the next three to five years, up from about 20% before the outbreak.
“Due to the size and layout of our yachts, Damen Yachting’s product portfolio is ideally suited to the Asian market,” she said. “Half of our experience is delivered by building a great yacht, and the other half is delivered by delivering great service and being able to attract a great crew.”
The number of single-family offices in Singapore has more than quadrupled in the past four years to 1,650 as of August this year, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Damen Yachting specializes in luxury yachts of 60 to 80 meters under the Amels brand, which can be customized with interior decoration. The company also produces expedition yachts designed for long-range cruising, as well as yacht support vessels designed to carry additional supplies. Rose pointed out that Damen Yachts contributed more than 15% of Damen Shipyard’s 3.1 billion euros in revenue in 2023.
Rose believes that Singapore has the largest number of potential customers for Damen Yachting’s yachts in the Asian market, with prices starting at about 75 million euros. In recent years, the Asian financial hub has been attracting the super-rich with tax incentives and a business-friendly regulatory environment. The number of single-family offices in Singapore has more than quadrupled in the past four years to 1,650 as of August this year, with about US$4 trillion in assets under management, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Billionaires who have set up family offices in the city-state include Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani.
Ross said the fact that Damen Yachts is a family business helps bring a sense of trust to Asian customers, many of whom are also family business owners.
“Ultra-high-net-worth individuals are probably one of the hardest audiences to target…unlike other consumer products on Instagram,” she said. “Word of mouth and long-term relationships are more important than your brand.”
