US$25-m yacht bet

Jamaican American businessman Denton Douglas is set to invest US$25 million to establish a state-of-the-art yacht-building and repair facility in Jamaica. Douglas, the founder of Florida-based Monarch Yachts, which has existing operations in China and Turkey, aims to make Jamaica a significant player in the global marine manufacturing industry.

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I want Jamaica to be a manufacturing hub. Over the years we have been mainly on primary goods; we export bananas, we export ore, but we never make something. We import our cars. We import everything else. I want to move Jamaica from that primary [producer] to a manufacturing hub, and I think we have the know-how. For sure we have the skills, and we have the logistics to do it.

Douglas envisions the Jamaican facility becoming a profitable international success within three years, creating scores of jobs for locals. He expressed a strong desire to shift Jamaica's economic focus from primary goods to manufacturing, stating, "I want to move Jamaica from that primary [producer] to a manufacturing hub, and I think we have the know-how. For sure we have the skills, and we have the logistics to do it."

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We make luxury yachts, commercial boats like fishing boats. We also have ferries… for shuttling people… and our biggest business now are military boats, which is surprisingly patrol boats. We have a line of patrol boats and we have a contract for a country in Africa to do 20 to 40 small ferries… and about 10 patrol boats… We want to do that here because those are easy to build.

The facility will produce a range of vessels, including luxury yachts, commercial fishing boats, ferries, and notably, military patrol boats. Douglas highlighted that patrol boats are a significant part of Monarch's current business, with existing contracts for vessels destined for an African country. He believes these types of boats are relatively easy to manufacture locally.

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Anyone can come cheaper than you are; they can cut more corners and be cheaper. So I changed my business to quality, meaning… no one in the world can make a better yacht.

Douglas cited personal convenience and cost-effectiveness as key reasons for choosing Jamaica. Currently, he travels extensively to shipyards in Turkey and China, a journey he described as long and arduous. Establishing operations in Jamaica, just an hour and a half from Miami, will significantly reduce travel time for himself and clients. Furthermore, he anticipates that building yachts in Jamaica and shipping them to the U.S. will be more cost-efficient than current practices.

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I want to come here and build yachts. Why? First, to be selfish. I fly 12 hours every time to Turkey and Italy to the shipyard, or 21 hours to China. An hour and a half [from Miami to Jamaica] is a lot better than flying so long.