“This is not about buying a yacht company. It’s about plugging into a tribe of builders, dreamers, sailors, creatives and engineers and seeing what kind of future they can shape when no one’s holding them back. This isn’t a transaction. It’s ignition,” says the company’s press release.
For 15 years Oceanco was owned by Barwani family from Oman. Their main business is in oil industry: MB Holding founded in 1982 operates in oil and gas exploration and production, as well as engineering services. However, in 2009, when Dr Mohammed Al Barwani first visited Oceanco, he was so impressed that a year later he bought the shipyard from Greek businessman Theodore Angelopoulos.
During Dr Mohammed Al Barwani’s tenure at the helm of Oceanco, the shipyard built a number of such benchmark megayachts as Kaos, Bravo Eugenia and the H3 recognized for her epic rebuild. There were also sailing boats like Koru and Black Pearl, which are the the world's largest and second largest superyachts respectively
In addition, in 2014 Al Barwani acquired the controlling stake in Turkish Proteksan Yachts, later renamed Turquoise Yachts. In 2023 MB Group became the sole shareholder of Turquoise Yachts.
Gabe Newell, also known by his nickname GabeN, is one of the founders and president of Valve company that has been developing and distributing computer games since 1996. Half-Life series released in 1998 gave birth to such iconic games and mods as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress Classic.
People at Oceanco are full of hope. “Gabe sees the world as full of crossovers. What happens when you let yachtbuilders talk to worldbuilders? When craftsmen get access to tech usually reserved for game devs and mad scientists? You get innovation that doesn’t just look good. It feels good”, they say at the yard.
By the way, Newell himself currently owns several expensive superyachts, including the Draak and Rocinante. He says he spends his days on board, mixing work on the computer and scuba diving.
Several years before he acquired Oceanco, he commissioned the yard with a 111-metre yacht codenamed Y722 that costs $400 mln and is scheduled for delivery in 2025.
Although Newell is not new to the world of yachting, he does not intend to interfere in the yard’s work, which has been repeatedly underscored in its emotional press release:
“His first decision? Leave the team alone. Seriously. Oceanco has vision and integrity, and a culture that actually works. Gabe doesn’t want to fix it, he wants to fuel it”.
The people at the yard are sure that Gabe Newell is not coming to the boat building business as a financier or a strategist, but as a visionary, who respects the sea, the craft and the people involved in the industry:
“He wants Oceanco to push harder on what it already does best: putting people first. That means more collaboration, more autonomy, and a mindset geared toward long-term evolution not just short-term wins”.
Oceanco’s new chapter has begun.
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