Part III of the findings from this inimitable event, held earlier this year in Bergen, Norway, are presented here ...

Earlier this year, we hosted the second edition of Innorvation ’26, our unique event in Norway. This time it was based in the maritime hub of Bergen, where DNV has a maritime R&D centre, Corvus has its battery-manufacturing centre and Norwegian Hull Club has its headquarters and situation room, all of which formed a key part of the experience.

In the countdown to Innorvation ‘26, we asked all of the VIP delegates to ask themselves the wide-open question ‘What if...?’ By the time we arrived in Bergen the diverse array of topics and questions raised gave us confidence that this valuable gathering of designers, naval architects, shipyard technical experts, yacht managers, experienced captains, environmental thinkers, project managers and owners’ reps would generate some dynamic and interesting ideas.

The following list is a sample of these pre-Innorvation What ifs..?, all of which are designed to trigger future conversations and opinion pieces in The Superyacht Report or SuperyachtNews.com in the future:

What if… we start looking at alternatives to traditional yacht paint? We can't justify the environmental impact of a full cycle of yacht paint for the long run.

What if… nuclear energy becomes so inexpensive that we will end up with an energy abundance?

What if…. fossil fuels were banned as means of propulsion on superyachts from 2030?

What if… speed limits were to be made obligatory in local jurisdictions and or territorial waters, thereby enforcing a reduction in energy consumption?

What if… science and technology are not the limiting factors in the adoption of meaningful innovation, but the invisible constraints shaping how we collaborate within commercial reality are. What would need to change to unlock progress at scale in the maritime sector?

What if… yachts were built to accommodate the right number of crew to match the expectations of owners, management and maintenance, all within MLC’s HoR?

What if… we look past energy and efficiency, what else can we innovate and improve – could it be the ecosystem, employment, enjoyment, (on-board) environment, experience etc?

What if… we reframed every client request, workshop problem and engineering road block with the three words: “How might we…” To start off with, how might we start looking at our industry innovations in a more holistic manner?

What if… the definition of luxury shifts from unlimited energy availability to a conscious use of energy, so we can fully enjoy what matters today without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same?

What if… next-generation solid-state battery density advances so rapidly by 2030 that the total system-volume of a battery powertrain undercuts a green methanol set-up?

The above sample list of What ifs…? demonstrated the intellect and creativity of those delegates due to attend Innorvation ’26, and rather than dig into these various individual questions during the event, we decided instead to take everyone on a unique journey by cable car to Bergen’s highest point, Mount Ulriken. Once at the top of the mountain, after a relaxed lunch and debrief, we split the group into very diverse teams and sent them off across the rocks in the stunning Norwegian blue sky and asked them to spend a few hours discussing and developing a unique What If..? with the “How Might We..?” strategy to add to the brainstorm, all under the strategic theme of Energy and Efficiency.

The following is Part II of a synopsis of the various ideas and innovations that came out of the team’s literal blue-sky thinking.

TEAM 3
What if… we imposed a 1 per cent levy on all superyacht revenues?
We have recently proven that we are a 54Bn-euro industry and growing at a reasonable single-digit rate, but we are facing significant challenges along the way and many of the major players have to invest in parallel to explore and analyse the future solutions for the industry. Why can’t we all contribute to the industry’s success by investing 1 per cent of our total economic value into a future development fund. As a 54B-euro industry, the minimum contribution is half a billion euros a year, every year, which is a significant fund that dwarfs what the largest superyacht companies spend on R&D, for example.

The key opportunities to invest in as an industry with this 1 per cent fund include developing future-focused skilled labour to solve one our biggest challenges in the manufacturing side of the industry, through to creating highly intelligent content that shows the reality of our industry to counter some of the contradictory content via channels like Below Deck or misinformation focused on high-profile individuals that taints the world of ownership.

The outcome of the 1 per cent fund would be strategic awareness, holistic responsibility and value creation beyond our industry, especially through knowledge transfer beyond our sector.

Part of the fund could be deployed as an innovation fund to help all key players explore and analyse the optimal solutions for technologies like fuel cells, yacht specific batteries, nuclear, AI and cyber, to ensure that it is not just the major investors taking the lead, but the whole industry being able to benefit and therefore the end customer is getting the best solution.

The outcome of the 1 per cent fund would be strategic awareness, holistic responsibility and value creation beyond our industry, especially through knowledge transfer beyond our sector. However, to apply this thinking we would need well-defined and managed NGO, rather than an industry association, and a combination of an industry-led steering board and an academic-led steering board, all of whom would be charged with managing a significant fund and deploying it strategically and intelligently for the benefit of the whole industry.

Parts I and II have already been published and Parts IV, V and VI will appear in the coming few days.

You can watch the video of this year’s event here, and if you’d like to join INNORVATION’27, somewhere in Norway, visit www.innorvation26.com and register your name.

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