<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Alshaali Marine Maldives is one of the largest and leading boat builders in the Maldives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Honoured with multiple awards and recognitions from both local and international associations for their top quality products and services, the company has a long and rich history of service in the Maldives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Coming across a rare opportunity to have a chat with Ismail Shareef who oversees and manages the Operations of Al Shaali Marine Maldives, The Islandchief makes use of the opportunity to dwell deep into conversation as he shares the highlights of the company&rsquo;s history while conveying his ideals and visions for the future of the company&rsquo;s operations.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Tell us about Al Shaali Marine Maldives and how it began?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Al Shaali Marine Maldives was founded in 2006 as a result of a joint venture between Alshaali Marine Dubai and Coastline Investments Pvt Ltd, Maldives. All of our operations were based in Male&rsquo; until 2003, when the base of operations was turned over to Dubai. Now we work directly under their commandment. Al Shaali Marine Maldives devotes itself to delivering an infinite variety of services ranging from the sale and building of sea vessels such as speed boats, dhonis and even safari boats. Over the years we have built a number of boats for both a local and international clientele. We pride ourselves in being one of the few companies in Maldives that manufacture fibreglass boats and our 50-feet fibreglass boats have become one of our most popular products. In addition to boat building, our factory at Thilafushi also offers a complete range of maintenance services.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How do you ensure that the services provided by Al Shaali Marine Maldives is to the best of the companies ability? What gives you an edge over your competition?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We are always on the look out for suppliers who provide the latests cutting edge materials to ensure that the vessels we produce are made to the highest standards available in the industry. We place special providence in using materials that are accessible worldwide ensuring our customers that the materials used in our products are up to global standards while ensuring all ISO standards are met. Furthermore, we give a 1 year warranty for any defects in our vessels along with a manufactures warranty for other equipments used in our boats. While boating is one of the largest and growing sectors in the country, there are many challenges to any industry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What are some of the barriers that you&rsquo;ve had to overcome?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As I am sure many of us in the industry can relate; sometimes the local market, when met with a shortage of materials, can be a bit inconvenient for work.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Furthermore, a worrying trend I have come to notice amongst consumers is that in their hunt for cost effective production of their products they overlook the importance of identifying the quality of the vessels often leading to bad long term investments with some boat builders.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Aside from this, I feel that a rather pressing challenge the industry of the country faces today is how consumers are often sold used and refurbished vessels brought in from abroad. The problem centres around differences that comes to the price. Most of the time they bring used vessels which sell for a cheaper price.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I strongly believe that the Maldives is not lacking in skill when it comes to boat building. Boat builders of the Maldives are more than capable to produce vessels on par with that of those produced elsewhere. At present, we ourselves do not build large scale safaris but that is not to say that the local community is not fit to cater to projects of the scale.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>We&rsquo;re witnessing a period where many new resorts are popping up, and this will undoubtedly have an impact on the boating industry. Do you feel that it is sustainable?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Often the case with resorts when deciding to procure vessels is that they favour having their vessels built outside of the Maldives or by appointing the task of building to someone they are either familiar with or by offering the opportunity to freelancers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This might cut down the total number of vessels that we get to build but overall I don&rsquo;t think that it has much of a negative effect on our industry. The tourism industry is very much intertwined with the boating industry in Maldives. As a result, if the number of resorts that develops in the country increases, it will bring huge advancements to the country.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I say this because at the end of the day resorts that need a vessel are often only left with two options. It&rsquo;s either to import them from outside of the country or have them built in the country. To the extent of my knowledge the advantages of having it built within the country far outweighs the alternative. The only compilation that arises is the problem with the pricing, but all in all even if a vessel is imported from outside of the country, by the time it reaches to an operational level it will have incurred much more costs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Tell us about your plans for Al Shaali Marine Maldives&rsquo;s future?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At Al Shaali Marine, we are always looking for finer boat building materials and constantly innovating our vessels to accommodate the latest changes that come about to the boat building industry. We are always studying the demands of the market and do our best to stay on top of it. It is our vision for the future to build and design vessels that far exceed the demands and needs of our customers while introducing our products to the market.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>It has come to light that Al Shaali Marine Maldives is planning to introduce a new boat, what can you tell us about this?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Yes, we are currently working on the production of a 47 footer speed boat that can accommodate 50 passengers. At present, we are working on the moulding process of the vessel. Given the pace that we are working at, I believe that we will be able to introduce the speedboat to the market by May or June this year. Considering the increasing number of people who are travelling within the Maldives, we felt that a 47 footer speed boat would play an important role in the development of our sea transportation systems.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I feel that the increase in island travel could be due to the fact that more resorts and guest-houses are being built on different islands across the nation, therefore increasing the number of holiday destinations across the country itself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As the amount of travellers intensify, we believe that the need to introduce a product to the market that could cater to larger amounts of people is essential to the growth of our economy at large.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>