PAE is very excited to announce the opening of our state-of-the-art factory in Xiamen, China, which will become the new production center for nine of our Nordhavn models. After almost two years of blasting, digging, welding, pouring, wiring, plumbing and fine finishing, our new factory – built by our China partner South Coast Marine – finished September 1 and immediately commenced with full production.
Our new factory (which replaces the original factory built in 2002) is a magnificent facility and ranks as one of the top yacht building factories in the world. Erected on 20 acres of land and with nearly 400,000 square feet of floor space, the plant, known as “Xiamen II,” boasts many high-tech features including a climate controlled lamination room for ABS class certification, computerized materials handling, a 150 X 40 foot test tank, an on site metal fabrication facility, an on site lumber mill, an on site hotel for PAE staff, Nordhavn buyers and their captains and crew and dormitory facilities for the factory workers. And as a really cool touch, the word NORDHAVN has been written in 30-foot high letters on one of the massive production bays – clearly visible from outer space. (Seriously! Just wait until Google Earth updates the area around the factory and you’ll be able to see for yourselves.)
The Xiamen II plant currently has a workforce of 600 people and builds the following Nordhavn models: N40, N43, N47, N52, N55, N60, EYF75, N86 and the N120. The workforce will expand to over 1000 people within the next 24 months.
At this point, patient reader, you are probably checking the date stamp of this article thinking that it must have been written several months ago. No, it is being written on November 6, 2008. Are we crazy? How can we be reporting the opening of a new factory at the very moment that the internet is abuzz with news of factory closings and layoffs throughout the boat building world? I can assure you that we are not crazy. As mentioned in the article, My Black Monday, boat building is a “slow motion” kind of business. It took nearly four years to conceive, plan, design and build Xiamen II. It is nearly impossible to find the perfect 4-year block of time to execute a project like this, so one has to have fortitude and take a long view when headwinds and scary events come along.
PAE has invested a considerable amount of time, effort and money in recent years to develop and introduce new models and we find ourselves perfectly positioned with a fresh product line and the eminent arrival of two exciting new models, the MS56 and the EYF75. As we watch the boat building industry contract, we rub our hands in excitement knowing that when this storm passes, we will find that we have leapfrogged several big names in the boat building business. Those who own Nordhavns and those who have the courage and foresight to purchase a Nordhavn during these turbulent times are members of an expanding Royal Family!
