Sustainability seems to be the word on everybody’s lips in the industry and was spoken about throughout events at The Superyacht Forum. In the opening keynote session at TSF, Henk de Vries expressed Feadship’s forward-thinking approach to building yachts in the most eco-friendly way possible. Speaking alongside Peter Lürssen on the main stage, De Vries elaborated on the need to find solutions to stop polluting the ocean: “yachting is like your backyard, you would want it to be clean.” The Dutch CEO touched on the need to face such issues in order to be business savvy: “you can look away…I don’t think that is good business”. De Vries travelled by train to the event. 

As a founder of the Water Revolution Foundation, Feadship is making important contributions to sustainability in the yachting industry. In the sustainability keynote session, chaired by Martin Redmayne and delivered by the Water Revolution Foundation, the Yacht Environmental Transparency Index (YETI) tool was discussed. YETI allows sustainable initiatives to be measured, giving insight into overall efficiency, fuel consumption, shore power use and annual emissions.

Feadship has now announced that the 82m Pure concept, which will see a transition in propulsion systems from diesel to methanol in less than a decade, is a step closer to reality. The concept was conceived from the outset to be fully future-compatible in terms of likely developments over the next decade in propulsion and efficiency. Now Feadship has received approval-in-principle from Lloyds Registry for an ‘agnostic’ fuel system. This represents the second stage of its roadmap to building a carbon-neutral superyacht by 2030.

Mandatory Tier III measures such as exhaust gas after-treatment, but also waste heat generation and DC electric systems for propulsion and hotel loads, are now all mature technologies and have been installed on numerous superyachts.

“The crucial next step is that we need a flexible or agnostic fuel system, meaning it has to work with the fuels of today but also those of tomorrow, as we’re not yet talking of just fuel cells for propulsion purposes,” says Giedo Loeff, head of R&D at Feadship.

“Our announcement is significant because as of now Feadship plans to build yachts with tanks and systems that are certified for a whole array of non-fossil fuels,” says Giedo Loeff. “Besides meeting the growing desire of our clients for carbon neutrality, it will help to minimise the environmental impact of our yachts wherever they may cruise in the world.”

Production of alternative fuels is increasing on a global scale and the requirement to allow for a flexible transition is incorporated into Feadship’s next generation of yachts. Feadship’s integrated system can store non-fossil paraffinic fuels (eg. HVO, SAF and e-diesel) and alcoholic fuels (eg. bio- and e-methanol or ethanol) at full capacity.

The system will allow an owner to make maximum use of these fuels as they become increasingly available. While research is ongoing in collaboration with key partners, Feadship is integrating dual- and single-fuel engines and fuel cell solutions into its new-build projects, as well as for refits and conversions. The effects of these will be assessed using YETI.

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