Frequently Asked Questions

We refit, repair and maintain yachts in the UAE, and we distribute marine equipment from the manufacturers we represent. Everything happens with our own people: painters, carpenters, electricians, mechanics and A/C technicians on staff rather than hired in per job. That covers routine servicing, antifouling and paint, interior refits, and full system replacements.

Our main workshop and warehouse is in Al Hamriyah Freezone, Sharjah, close to the dry docks. We also keep a base at Dubai Maritime City, which gives us lifting capacity for larger vessels. Most work is done at the yacht itself — in the marina, at anchor, or in the yard the owner uses. For paint, structural work or anything that needs a controlled environment, the yacht comes to us.

Fibreglass, steel and aluminium yachts up to 65 metres, plus tenders and personal watercraft. Azimut, Riva, Princess, Sunseeker, Ferretti Group, Gulf Craft and everything else that comes through the yard — and we’re an official service point for the brands we represent. There’s no brand we won’t touch; the question is only whether the parts are available in a sensible timeframe, and we’ll tell you that upfront.

Our team. We keep senior technicians on staff in every discipline precisely so we don’t have to hand your yacht to whoever is available that week. Where a job needs a specialism we don’t hold in-house, we say so before we quote, and you’ll know who is coming aboard.

Send us the yacht’s make, model, year and the work you’re thinking about, through the contact form or to info@ms1.ae. For anything beyond a straightforward service we’ll come and look at the boat first — a written scope of works based on a fifteen-minute inspection is worth more than a fast number based on a photograph. Most quotations go out within 24 to 48 hours; on a large or complex scope it can take up to five working days, and we’ll tell you which it is.

Because on a yacht the price is in the details. Two 60-footers of the same model can differ by half in an antifouling job depending on how many coats are already on the hull, what condition the primer is in, and whether the previous yard prepared it properly. We’d rather spend an hour looking than give you a number we have to revise later.

Four things, roughly in order: the amount of preparation work hidden under the finish, the lead time on parts, how long the yacht needs to be out of the water, and how much of the specification is decided before we start. The last one is the one owners control most and think about least — a scope agreed in writing at the beginning is the single biggest saving available on any refit.

We warrant our workmanship for 12 months from handover. Equipment we supply carries the manufacturer’s warranty, and because we’re an official dealer for the brands we sell, warranty claims are handled by us here in the UAE rather than by you with a factory abroad.

Most yachts here need antifouling every 12 months, and some every 8 to 10. Gulf water is warm and biologically busy year-round, so fouling builds faster than it would in the Mediterranean — the seasonal rest that lets a European hull stretch to 24 months doesn’t happen here. If you’re seeing growth returning within weeks of a scrub, the coating is finished regardless of how recently it was applied.

For a straightforward antifouling on a 50–70ft yacht, budget on 7 to 10 days in the yard, including haul-out and launch. Full hull paint takes considerably longer — the painting itself is a small part of it; the preparation, fairing and cure time are what set the schedule. We’ll give you a day-by-day plan with the quotation so you can book the lift and your own diary around it.

Usually, yes. We’re the official Seakeeper dealer and service point in the UAE, and retrofits are a large part of what we do — the range starts at units for 23ft boats and goes up to large yachts. What decides it is space, structural support in the chosen location, and available electrical capacity. We survey the boat and confirm the model before anything is ordered.

Yes. We’re an official dealer for 17 manufacturers including Seakeeper, Opacmare, Mase Generators, Alexseal, OceanLED, Vitrifrigo and Permateek, and we supply parts to owners, captains and other yards. Buying through the dealer also means the warranty is registered properly and serviced locally, which is not always true of equipment bought online.

That’s most of our maintenance work. We handle scheduled servicing, cleaning and crew arrangements, and we report back with photographs at each stage so you can see what’s been done rather than take our word for it. Owners who spend part of the year abroad tend to put the yacht on a fixed maintenance schedule with us and leave it at that.