During the Monaco Yacht Show, leading global classification societies DNV, Lloyd’s Register (LR), RINA, Bureau Veritas (BV) and ABS announced the establishment of the Yacht Safety and Environmental Consortium (YSEC). The consortium aims to drive better safety and environmental performance of yachts over 24 metres in length by utilising its members’ collective expertise to support the industry tackling these challenges during yacht design and operation by best practices, and advising on industry standards and fostering collaboration. Engel-Jan de Boer, global yacht segment director, Lloyd’s Register, hopes “By working together, we can set new benchmarks and ensure best practice across the industry”.

This is particularly needed as yachts are not covered by the International Association of Classification Societies, unlike other maritime vessels. Also, many of these societies have been individually working to progress these issues such as endorsing different environmentally focused initiatives and indices, as well as creating relevant Class notations.

Hopefully, the consortium's collaboration on these efforts will amplify and accelerate these current endeavours through a more unified approach and support. These hopes are echoed by representatives of these founding member organisations. Martin Richter, ship type expert yachts at DNV Maritime, said “We believe that a unified approach is essential for providing greater clarity and consistency within the yachting industry.”

The consortium’s focus on both environmental performance and safety emphasises the critical need for these to be developed together. This is especially true in light of the growing number of accidents within the superyacht fleet, with some events being attributed to the use of ‘greener’ technologies like lithium-ion batteries. As Daniele Bottino, ABS manager for regional business development, noted, “By collaborating with specialists from across the industry, we can work together to develop innovative and practical solutions to yachts’ sustainability challenges with a focus on advancing safety.” This emphasis on safety will be equally important as other low or zero-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen and methanol, come with their own inherent risks. Ensuring that environmental performance and safety go hand in hand should help alleviate concerns about adopting these new fuels.

The consortium will appoint a rotating chair and vice chair from the membership organisations for two-year terms. YSEC is already working on key initiatives including environmental indices, tonnage calculations and load line assessments, to foster furthering industry-wide collaboration. It will certainly be interesting to see what the expert collaboration can do to advance these aspects of the industry. Time will tell if the creation of YSEC will mark a milestone in the efforts of the superyacht industry to become more safe both for workers and guests but also for the planet.

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Monaco Yacht Show

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