Grand Banks Yachts Opens New Composites Facility in Malaysia

The yard in Pasir Gudang produces the Grand Banks, Palm Beach and Eastbay brands.

Grand Banks Yachts unveiled its new state-of-the-art composite manufacturing facility in Malaysia yesterday, furthering the group’s position as one of Asia’s largest and most advanced luxury boatbuilding facilities. In the presence of customers, business partners and shareholders, CEO Mark Richards and directors conducted a tour of the facility that was opened after nearly 18 months of expansion and modernization.

The composite manufacturing facility enlarges the group’s manufacturing yard by 143,300ft² (13,313m²), or 25%, to nearly 700,000ft² (65,032m²). The yard, which manufactures global brands such as Grand Banks, Palm Beach and Eastbay, is located at Pasir Gudang, one of nine flagship zones in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, which was recently inaugurated as an economic corridor for Malaysia and Singapore.

Grand Banks now has significantly greater control over every stage of production, including composite manufacturing, under one roof. Equipped with advanced technologies such as on-site eight-axis rotor robotics, a testing pool, and engineering labs, the group can build bigger yachts with greater precision, craftsmanship and efficiency while shortening delivery times.

Leveraging optimized resin infusion techniques and precise blends, the group is able to enhance its proprietary V-Warp Technology to deliver stronger, lighter, and more fuel-efficient hulls. In line with its commitment to sustainability, solar panels have also been installed on the facility’s rooftop to power on-site operations.

The completion of the composite manufacturing facility is well-timed. Already, the group’s increased efforts in marketing and customer engagement has led to significant expansion of its customer base, especially in North America, which has contributed to a healthy net order book of S$109.8m as at 31 December 2024.

“The expansion is a critical part of our strategy to improve quality, internal efficiencies and generate economies of scale,” says Grand Banks chairman Basil Chan. “The enhancements in technology and processes will further strengthen our business foundation to better serve customers and add long-term value to our shareholders.”