Marine · Turkish Shipyards
Turkish Shipyards, Technology That Fits the Yard.
Crestron control and lighting, audio and video, networks and cameras for superyachts in build or refit at the Antalya Free Zone, Yalova, Tuzla and Kocaeli yards: designed in New York, installed around the yard's schedule, and planned for a coast where Starlink is not licensed.
Turkish Shipyards
Why the Yard Changes the Design.
Turkey builds and refits at scale. Bilgin Yachts' Yalova base covers 79,000 square meters with more than a dozen large projects in build at once; RMK Marine's new Yalova yard adds a 10,000-square-meter refit area, 700 meters of quay and a floating dock for yachts to 150 meters; Turquoise Yachts' dock at Kocaeli takes vessels to 120 meters; and Naval Yachts' refit shed in the Antalya Free Zone keeps several superyachts to 70 meters under one roof. Refit itself is a licensed activity in Turkey, so the technology integrator works inside the yard's authorization, with the yard's electricians, on the yard's calendar.
Two things are different on this coast. Starlink is not licensed on Turkish land or in Turkish waters, and the service geofences itself within about 500 meters of the shoreline, so connectivity for the yard period and for the delivery voyage is built on cellular, the marina's wired service and, where the owner wants it, VSAT, with Starlink Maritime taking over once the vessel is outside Turkish waters. And the environment is hard on electronics: salt fog and sharp day-night temperature swings put condensation on glass and displays, which decides where touch screens, cameras and racks go and how they are ventilated.
01 · Control
Crestron, End to End
Crestron 4-Series control and Crestron lighting on every yacht: cabin scenes, deck and underwater lighting, shades, climate, AV and entertainment on one platform from the master suite to the helm, specified into the yard's wiring package before cabling closes.
02 · Connectivity
Designed for No Starlink
Multi-SIM cellular on Peplink for the yard period and the Turkish coast, the marina's wired service at the berth, VSAT where the owner needs a guaranteed link, and Starlink Maritime fitted for the Mediterranean, all on one UniFi network with automatic failover.
03 · The yard
On the Yard's Schedule
Equipment rooms, cable paths and rack ventilation drawn with the yard; installation staged between the yard's trades; commissioning and crew documentation finished before sea trials; Cave Watch remote support from delivery onward.
At a Glance
The yards, in numbers.
- Antalya
- Naval Yachts' refit shipyard in the Antalya Free Zone covers more than 7,000 square meters and can handle several superyachts up to 70 meters at once under one roof.
- Yalova
- Bilgin Yachts' production base in Yalova is a 79,000-square-meter facility with more than a dozen large yacht projects in build at any time; RMK Marine's new Yalova shipyard includes a 10,000-square-meter open refit area, 700 meters of quay and a floating dock for yachts up to 150 meters.
- Kocaeli
- Turquoise Yachts' refit and repair dock at Kocaeli, near Istanbul, accommodates vessels up to 120 meters for maintenance and refit work.
- Licensing
- Offering superyacht refit services in Turkey is a strictly controlled activity that requires special governmental authorization; a yacht owner, captain and crew entering Turkey for a refit can apply for a residency permit by presenting the shipyard's refit contract.
- Starlink
- As of mid-2025 Starlink is not licensed to operate on Turkish land or within Turkish territorial waters, and the service geofences both Starlink Maritime and Roam within about 500 meters of the Turkish coastline, so yards and berths near shore need other connectivity.
- Berth power
- Yalıkavak Marina near Bodrum, a base for Turkish-built superyachts, provides shore power up to 1,000 amps on three phases and high-speed Wi-Fi at every berth.
- Environment
- The marine environment around Turkish yards subjects onboard electronics to salt-fog corrosion and sharp day-night temperature swings that cause condensation on glass and displays.
Sources: Naval Yachts, Antalya Free Zone shipyard; Best Yachts, Turkey the world's second-largest superyacht builder; DredgeWire, RMK Marine's Yalova shipyard; Yacht Style, Turkey, a quiet achiever; Dynamiq, refit in the Antalya Free Zone; Blue Guide, regulations for foreign-flagged yachts in Turkey; IEC Telecom, Starlink Maritime and Turkey (2025); Superyachts.com, Yalıkavak Marina; Higgstec, marine touchscreen design against salt, vibration and humidity.
Reading on Turkish Shipyards
Guides and related work.
- New-build yacht AV and IT: scope before cabling closes →
What the yard needs from the integrator before the cable trays are sealed.
- Yacht new-build handover checklist for AV and control →
- Peplink multi-WAN on yachts: priority versus smoothing →
- Starlink Maritime: High Performance versus Mini →
- Mediterranean refit yards →
Questions About Turkish Shipyards
Turkish Shipyards, Answered
Do you work at Turkish shipyards?+–
Yes, on a project basis. We design the technology package in New York from the yard's drawings, travel to the yard for installation milestones and commissioning, and work with the yard's licensed electricians, who execute and certify the electrical work inside the yard's own refit authorization. Our published yacht project is a 65-meter refit in Monaco; a Turkish yard is served the same way, around the yard's schedule.
What do you do about internet if Starlink does not work in Turkey?+–
We design for it from the start. Starlink is not licensed in Turkey and geofences itself near the coast, so the yard period and the delivery run on multi-SIM cellular through a Peplink router, the marina's wired service at the berth, and VSAT if the owner wants a guaranteed link. Starlink Maritime is still fitted and configured, and it takes over automatically once the vessel is outside Turkish waters.
Which control and lighting system do you use on a yacht built in Turkey?+–
Crestron, end to end: Crestron 4-Series control and Crestron lighting modules and keypads, with marine-grade wiring, UV-resistant keypads and vibration-proof mounting. One platform runs lighting, shades, climate, AV and entertainment from the owner's suite to the bridge, and the crew gets documented operation and fault reporting through Crestron XiO Cloud.
How do you protect displays and electronics from the climate?+–
By placing and ventilating them for it. Salt fog and day-night temperature swings cause corrosion and condensation on glass and displays, so touch screens, cameras and exterior keypads are specified with the right ratings and placed where they stay dry, racks get conditioned air and drip protection, and the commissioning record notes every exterior device so Cave Watch can watch it afterward.
Can you add Kaleidescape, DM NVX video and marine audio during a Turkish refit?+–
Yes. A refit yard period is when the backbone goes in: Crestron DM NVX video distribution, a Kaleidescape library for the owner's suite and sky lounge, L-Acoustics, Coastal Source and James Loudspeaker marine audio, and the UniFi network that carries it. We scope it with the yard so cable runs, equipment rooms and power are in the yard's plan, and we commission before the vessel leaves.
More From Marine
More on the yards and marinas.
Start Here
Send the Yard Period.
Tell us the yard, the dates the vessel is out of the water, and what is being touched: the AV, the network, the lighting, the cameras, or all of it. We will scope the technology package around the yard's schedule, name what we need from the yard's electrical contractor, and commission before sea trials.
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