Burak Akgul on Perini Navi’s new CEO

It was inevitably the focus of our first question when we sat down Burak Akgul, Managing Director of Sales, Marketing & Design at Perini Navi Group, at The May Fair Hotel, on the day of the event.

“Yes, Enrico Dell’Artino, he’s been on the board for several months now and he’s taken over from Giancarlo [Ragnetti] who has chosen to take a step back” he said.

“The team is the same team, we’re basically getting on and doing our jobs and trying to do better for our clients, and for our teams, and continuing to build may I say superlative sailing yachts and motoryachts.”

So now there is a new CEO in place, are there any plans for Perini Navi with hat he may wish to share with us?

“Well we’re facing the future with a new determination, to continue to innovate, to become better at what we do, to become more efficient at what we do, and certainly to grow as well”, he said.

“We have a very good number of orders under construction currently, we have the privilege of having sold a vessel at the end of the year – we haven’t actually announced it so we’re announcing it now. We’re looking to the future in a very positive manner.”

What would he say are the main economic benefits of large yacht construction?

“Certainly, of large yacht construction,” he said, “they provide an opportunity for an organisation to become more structured, to the extent that the cycles are longer, the commitment is obviously considering greater.

“And one needs to concentrate even more on the efficiency of integration of all the various trades that one brings together to design and build a very large motoryacht to the extent that we have, though clearly not to the extent of some of our friends here at this particular event!”

The Maltese Falcon is still in the Top 100 – would he say she is a benchmark for Perini Navi?

“Unequivocally,” he said. “She represents a truly extraordinary expression of creativity and engineering ingenuity which I suspect will remain a benchmark for a very long time yet.”

You can watch the full video interview with Burak Akgul above this article.