The Kees Amels name lives on at 100 year celebrations.
Launched in 1918, the largest Dutch shipyard made its arrival as a humble boat building business. Starting off like many others by building wooden boats, the name of Amels is now associated with the construction of private motor yachts in the Netherlands.
Between 1918 and 1950 the Amels shipyard made its name by producing almost 100 vessels made from wood or steel. The combined efforts of Kees and his son Wiebe propelled the boat building business into the forefront of the market at their base in Friesland.
Continuing in to the latter end of the 20th century, the attentions of Amels turned towards commercial shipbuilding and more specifically superyachts. The first superyacht to emerge from the Amels line was the Katalina which stood at 48m/158ft, a remarkable size which surpassed expectations in 1982. As more superyachts began construction with the Dutch brand, the base facilities moved to Makkum and collaborations with designers began.
Following the acquisition of Amels by the Damen Shipyards Group in 1991, the brand continued onwards and upwards as they produced the largest megayacht, of that time, to be built on Dutch land. Montkaj was firmly placed in the catalogue of the world's largest yachts and measured an admirable 75m/246ft.
With popular custom built megayachts coming through, Amels launched their Limited Editions range from their new HQ in Vlissingen. However, in 2015 Amels brought back their custom construction outfit. The largest delivery to date from Amels is Here Comes the Sun which is an Amels 272.
