It may have snuck in while you weren’t looking, it may have been welcomed with open arms by some but Environmentalism is at last part of the yachting industry. There is no question that pollution, prevention and control have been with us for some time but they are specific measures imposed on us by various conventions, their existence means many crew have been exposed to rules regarding protecting the seas we live and work on. However what is different about a positive environmental approach is that it is voluntary and therefore can and should be inventive and customized for a particular yacht and not some prescribed policy intended for gigantic ships.
For me the best and worst thing about the environmental efforts made by the yachting sector is that it seems to coming from owners and not crew. The majority of ‘green yachts’ are arguably green because of the capital infrastructure invested in by the yacht owners; sophisticated sewage treatment plants and efficient machinery and the like. Very few yachts are mandated to actually operate with an environmental agenda. Admittedly some yachts often do have a sign saying; ‘think of the environment before printing this email!’ but that is not necessarily making the best use of the knowledge available and in some cases is more of a fad than a policy.
It is a fact that you simply cannot buy a ‘safe’ yacht it has to operated in a ‘safe manner’. The same can be said for yachts that want to reduce their environmental impact and operate in a green way. Of course designing in or equipping a yacht with technological efficiency gives one a head start to a green operation but unless the yacht’s operators are on the same page it’s benefit can be potentially very small.
So what will it take to get crew on board with the environmental operating improvements that can reduce a yachts impact on its environment and why should they bother?
Well there are more reasons now than ever but two stick out that would be easy to justify even in the mind of the staunchest global warming denier, and, they are surely out there.
Firstly in these poor economic times, savings and economies are undoubtedly what owners want. A great part of reducing ones carbon keelprint is by reducing emissions which means operating more economically. A simple saving and direct benefit to the owner you don’t even have to care about reef degradation to see the benefit of that.
Secondly a reduced keel print is a very big selling and marketing point for a yacht these days. Having talked to a number of designers and brokers in the last few months there are definitely the first signs of demand in the sort of yachts that are operating with some level of greenness. There has been reported to be a resurgence in interest of large sailing yachts because of this very reason, together with interest from buyers and owners wanting to know how they can make their yachts greener.
The simple point I am making is that it doesn’t matter if you don’t care about the environment it makes sense to operate yachts with an environmental agenda firmly in place. Just what such an agenda might include in terms of an operational approach is a large topic but one thing is for sure and that is that it will need to be part of a strategy and not simply a tactic. There is more and more information being put out there about what crew can achieve in terms of environmental efficiencies but the industry needs more communication and more commitment on the part of the crew themselves. In turn they will certainly need support and access to the information available on just what their options may be.
It may not be long before we see consultants and technicians visiting yachts to design a Green operational document in the same way that security people or AV technicians do already. In the mean time anyone who has developed any smart green operating strategies, please share them with us. IYT and Save Our Seas are working on developing some educational materials and their relevance will be improved with your input.
For me the best and worst thing about the environmental efforts made by the yachting sector is that it seems to coming from owners and not crew. The majority of ‘green yachts’ are arguably green because of the capital infrastructure invested in by the yacht owners; sophisticated sewage treatment plants and efficient machinery and the like. Very few yachts are mandated to actually operate with an environmental agenda. Admittedly some yachts often do have a sign saying; ‘think of the environment before printing this email!’ but that is not necessarily making the best use of the knowledge available and in some cases is more of a fad than a policy.
It is a fact that you simply cannot buy a ‘safe’ yacht it has to operated in a ‘safe manner’. The same can be said for yachts that want to reduce their environmental impact and operate in a green way. Of course designing in or equipping a yacht with technological efficiency gives one a head start to a green operation but unless the yacht’s operators are on the same page it’s benefit can be potentially very small.
So what will it take to get crew on board with the environmental operating improvements that can reduce a yachts impact on its environment and why should they bother?
Well there are more reasons now than ever but two stick out that would be easy to justify even in the mind of the staunchest global warming denier, and, they are surely out there.
Firstly in these poor economic times, savings and economies are undoubtedly what owners want. A great part of reducing ones carbon keelprint is by reducing emissions which means operating more economically. A simple saving and direct benefit to the owner you don’t even have to care about reef degradation to see the benefit of that.
Secondly a reduced keel print is a very big selling and marketing point for a yacht these days. Having talked to a number of designers and brokers in the last few months there are definitely the first signs of demand in the sort of yachts that are operating with some level of greenness. There has been reported to be a resurgence in interest of large sailing yachts because of this very reason, together with interest from buyers and owners wanting to know how they can make their yachts greener.
The simple point I am making is that it doesn’t matter if you don’t care about the environment it makes sense to operate yachts with an environmental agenda firmly in place. Just what such an agenda might include in terms of an operational approach is a large topic but one thing is for sure and that is that it will need to be part of a strategy and not simply a tactic. There is more and more information being put out there about what crew can achieve in terms of environmental efficiencies but the industry needs more communication and more commitment on the part of the crew themselves. In turn they will certainly need support and access to the information available on just what their options may be.
It may not be long before we see consultants and technicians visiting yachts to design a Green operational document in the same way that security people or AV technicians do already. In the mean time anyone who has developed any smart green operating strategies, please share them with us. IYT and Save Our Seas are working on developing some educational materials and their relevance will be improved with your input.
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