Leading superyacht shipyards including Feadship, Heesen and Lürssen have pledged to support a structured ocean conservation programme and called on other builders to join them.
The programme has been launched by the Water Revolution Foundation and is also supported by Oceanco, Royal Huisman, Tankoa, Turquoise, Abeking & Rasmussen, Sanlorenzo, Silveryachts, Southern Wind, Ameryachts, Baglietto, Horizon and Vitters.
All the signed-up shipyards have pledged to reinvest based on the gross tonnage of the yachts they deliver at a rate of €1 per gross ton each yard has delivered in 2021.
For each new yacht delivered, the yards will match the gross tonnage in euros which will be reinvested by the Water Revolution Foundation into the Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMA) North Atlantic project, which begins in early 2022. The programme has its sights on a €550,000 funding target to kick start the two year North Atlantic IMMA project.
It is estimated that the group of committed builders have already delivered around 60,000 GT in 2021.
Speaking about the agreement, Dr Vienna Eleuteri, Water Revolution Foundation's initiator and sustainability scientist, said: “Today, an innovative approach towards ecological transition is about acknowledging the ocean-climate nexus and the central role of marine ecosystem conservation for a healthy planet.
"I am very pleased with this group of builders taking the lead in setting up structural reinvestment by the yachting sector to regenerate our oceans."