Dutch superyacht builder Amels has announced that M/Y Volpini 2, the shipyard’s first ever hybrid superyacht has been delivered. Not only is the new delivery the first of the new Amels 188 designed by Tim Heywood, at 57.7m, the new Limited Editions superyacht is also the world’s first IMO Tier III compliant yacht, which came into effect for all yachts with a keel laid after January 2016.

With the yacht’s new design and revisited technical approach, Volpini 2 marks an important milestone within what has been the most successful semi-custom line to date. Developed in 2005, the original trajectory of the Limited Editions range was to offer clients a tried and tested platform with a significant level of stylistic flexibility. “I was fortunate that Amels asked me to design their first Limited Editions yacht back in 2005,” says Tim Heywood to The Superyacht Report earlier this year. “To then be asked to design new Limited Editions yachts is a designer’s dream, we now have a number of different models under construction and [they are] cruising all over the world.”

Volpini 2 was sold in 2017 to a repeat Amels client, who was represented by Ben Young of SYM Superyacht Management, the construction of the vessel was a close collaboration between the captain, crew and SYM Superyacht Management, who supervised the project through to its completion.

“Amels listened carefully to what was important to the clients in the final stages of construction and delivered on time and on budget,” says Young. “The entire Amels team were a real pleasure to work alongside, with each and every person getting behind the project to deliver.”

The IMO Tier III emission regulations, which were brought in at the beginning of 2016, requires motor yachts that exceed the 500 gross tonnage threshold to reduce the NOx emissions in their engine exhaust gasses by approximately 70 per cent. While currently this is only applicable to yachts over 500gt, the IMO plan to extend this to all yachts over 24m by 2021. In order to achieve this new requirement, Amels began a 188 research and development programme in 2014.

“We ended up laying the keel for Volpini 2 before the end of 2015, so we were not obliged by regulation to comply, but we knew we had to tackle the engineering challenges for the long-term success of the Amels 188 design,” says design manager, Hans Konings. “For the hybrid system, we started by analysing all the fleet data from the Limited Editions yachts we had already delivered. It was clear that there was enormous potential to improve efficiency with a hybrid solution. We took a holistic approach, finding smart ways to reuse energy already on board (like engine heat), combined with a battery bank to vastly improve the efficiency of power systems.

“Our solution includes a waste heat recovery system, two generators with a father-son configuration for optimal engine output, plus a compact battery bank for peak shaving and managed load shedding,” explains Konings.

With a fleet currently standing at 63 superyachts, Amels now have 10 yachts under construction, not including of course the vessels under construction on the Damen books. According to Superyacht Intelligence, Amels will see the delivery of four yachts, including Volpini 2.

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