How close are we to a sustainable future in yachting?

Last week the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) held its inaugural Superyachts Forum at the Yacht Club de Monaco, bringing together leaders and experts to explore how the latest innovations and trends are shaping the future of the yachting industry.

The theme of the event was sustainability and the topics discussed included the latest developments in the market, technological advancements, new regulations, eco-conscious yacht designs and alternative fuels.

Rene Laursen, director of sustainability at ABS, ran through the latest advancements in alternative fuels, while Riccardo Repetto, global segment manager of ABB, explained how electrification has a place in the yachting tool kit. Torben Mørch Sørensen, marine sales director of Blue World Technology, revealed what’s around the corner for fuel cell technology, and Pierpaolo Da Fieno, managing director of MAN Energy Solutions, unveiled the future of methanol engines for yachts.

The day concluded with a panel discussion on the future of sustainable yachting. Panellists included Xavier Perrone, commercial manager of Hill Robinson Group Ltd, Andrea Castagno, project coordination department director at Sanlorenzo, Riccardo Repetto, global segment manager at ABB, Marc Verburg, director of yacht operations at Maritime Administration of the Marshall Islands, and ​​Stamatis Fradelos, vice president of regulatory affairs at ABS.

To accelerate a sustainable future, the group agreed that spreading the message from the ground up was vital and even if an owner is not interested in sustainability, they are interested in saving money. “It’s definitely down to us to recommend more sustainable vessels or sustainable measures that could actually reduce the energy consumption,” agreed Xavier Perrone. “[Hill Robinson] has over 25 years’ experience in yacht operation. And that's where we can help the owners make significant savings by educating the crew and suggesting more realistic ways for energy saving, such as better heat recovery systems.”

Andrea Castagno revealed that Sanlorenzo is concentrating its efforts on reducing hotel load, with the imminent launch of its new hydrogen-fuelled 50-metre motor yacht 50Steel. The vessel will generate electricity for onboard hotel services to improve the yacht's eco-footprint while at anchor by around 90 per cent - a significant saving when yachts are stationary for large lengths of time.

Collaboration and knowledge sharing are vital in advancing technology at rapid speed - Vitters’ “zero fossil fuel" sailing yacht Project 3094 (better known as Project Zero) and its open-source approach were held up as a shining example, along with the cruise liner industry who are known for collaboration. “When it comes to yachting, we can be a bit isolationist,” admitted ABB's Riccardo Repetto. Daniele Bottino, ABS' regional business development Europe, concurred, adding: “We need to learn from commercial shipping, especially now, because it is so complex and so expensive to make any decisions. They have the financial muscles to press ahead with exploring new technology.”

Everyone agreed that regulation is an important catalyst for the sustainable transition. If you have shipbuilders offering more traditional propulsion solutions against more expensive new technology, change won’t happen at the speed it is needed. “But we need standardisation, not to constrain, but to harmonise the competition and encourage the solutions,” countered Xavier Perrone.

Voluntary indexes such as the SEA Index Phase III, the Water Revolution Foundation’s Yacht Environmental Transparency Index (YETI) and Blue ESG are all trying to make a difference and fill the gap, but there was some agreement that the landscape is confusing and the spotlight should be on the IMO to give a clearer direction.

For a unified approach, lots of fingers are pointed towards class and flag, admitted Marc Verburg. “[When it comes to Flag], the industry very often thinks we are the regulators, we are making the regulations, that's not entirely true, we are also held up by the IMO.” He believes that the IMO is not ready for the yachting industry and the fast growth of technology the industry is currently seeing.

Recently, new rules have come into force that oblige ships to measure energy efficiency and carbon emissions in the form of the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI/EEDI) and the carbon intensity indicator (CII) ratings. These are currently only applicable to vessels over 5000 GT, but both Verburg and ​​Stamatis Fradelos see this regulation being applied in some form to yachts in a few years. “I believe that in future, we are going to see more ship types and smaller ships fall into this regulatory framework and be regulated in terms of their emissions,” confirmed Fradelos.

There is a lot at stake - not just for the sake of the planet, but for yachting as a whole. Public perception that yachts are big polluters means that the industry is increasingly in the spotlight - the more it can become greener, the more new owners it can attract and the more it can grow as an industry.

But will yachting ever be truly green? “I don't think it will be 100%,” concluded Marc Verburg. “But I think it will make major steps, because, technically, the industry is working hard on this…. But it is slow work.”