Collaborating to co-create the next generation of superyachts

Oceanco has unveiled its vision of future demands for the superyacht industry, reflecting across industries, with the ultimate goal of zero impact on the environment. ‘Oceanco NXT’ brings together a cohort of luminaries in the yachting, technology and design worlds to marry innovation and sustainability in an authentic and meaningful way that will transform how owners spend their time on superyachts.

At the dawn of a new decade, Oceanco is making a commitment to the future through this pioneering collaborative initiative. Making a bold statement, in lieu of the customary concepts that are annually released in the industry to spark interest from potential buyers, Oceanco has chosen to address the most pressing and challenging questions that we face in the yachting industry today.

Although the exterior and interior styling of superyachts has progressed significantly over time, there are still technical formats and standards that are deeply rooted in general proportions, form and gross tonnage. Oceanco believes that these standards have been so far developed and fine-tuned over time that they are not being challenged by the industry anymore, and the result is a “stagnation in innovation”.

Oceanco NXT delves deeper and broader than simply reducing the burning of fossil fuels to propel and operate the yacht; it considers how yacht owners can experience life on the water in the future, in the most sustainable, enjoyable and rewarding ways possible. 

It takes a visionary yacht builder alongside nonconformist owners to forge new pathways in the industry, and Oceanco has arguably been challenging the status quo since its inception. In 2013 Oceanco completed the world’s first Passenger Yacht Code vessel, Equanimity; and in 2016 it delivered 86m Aquijo, the world’s largest ketch. In 2017, Oceanco delivered 110m Jubilee, the largest yacht built in the Netherlands; and more recently it delivered 106.7m Black Pearl, the world’s largest most ecological sailing yacht.

Challenges and solutions from these superyachts gave rise to Oceanco’s ground-breaking LIFE design, debuted onboard the 109m Bravo Eugenia, which features extended length while using an optimized hybrid propulsion system to improve fuel efficiency by 30 per cent and minimize space allocated to technical equipment, through a single level engine room.

The physical representation of NXT has been conceived by designer Giles Taylor, Global Vice President of Design at FAW Group, whose vision for co-creating the future of yachting has been sculpted in white onyx. This will be complemented by the expertise brought by TANK, an architecture and interior design studio that is celebrated for its contemporary approach to re-creating spaces. Technical Propulsion and Energy Architecture input for the Oceanco NXT ideology is provided by Lateral Naval Architects, a longstanding partner of Oceanco with a respected portfolio of projects to its name.

Additionally, a broad spectrum of industry expertise is being brought into NXT through Oceanco Co-Maker Unlimited, Oceanco’s collective collaboration strategy to optimize the way yachts are designed and built. Each of these stakeholders has a crucial role to play in upholding the Oceanco NXT promise to strive for meaningful innovation in how we create sustainable yachting that meets the needs of future Owners. 

"Oceanco NXT represents our commitment and the fundamental belief that the best way to set new benchmarks is to co-create them with experts from a wide array of industries – not just yachting. In creating Oceanco NXT, we seek partners who share a common ambition to innovate and forge a sustainable pathway for tomorrow's yachts,” began Marcel Onkenhout, CEO of Oceanco. 

"From Giles Taylor's understanding of future owners' lifestyle needs and Lateral's technical innovations towards achieving zero emissions, to TANK's contemporary vision for the use of our living spaces and Oceanco's collaboration vision with Co-makers, we invite you to our unified goal: to create the most exciting superyachts we can, for future generations..." - Marcel Onkenhout, CEO of Oceanco

“We are invested in an outcome where the future is zero. From Giles Taylor's understanding of future owners' lifestyle needs and Lateral's technical innovations towards achieving zero emissions, to TANK's contemporary vision for the use of our living spaces and Oceanco's collaboration vision with Co-makers, we invite you to our unified goal: to create the most exciting superyachts we can, for future generations. Through Oceanco NXT, tomorrow can start today," continued Onkenhout. 

During a recent round table conversation to kick-off the initiative, Captain Chris Gartner, who is in command of the award-winning Sailing Yacht Black Pearl, said that he hopes yachts such as Black Pearl will mean that the industry can start to lead by example and be more openminded. “A lot of people think of sailboats as slow, inconvenient vessels with no living spaces, but that’s a fallacy. You can sail a 100m boat for many days and not use any fossil fuels, and that’s a huge accomplishment,” Gartner explained.

Agreeing with Gartner’s comment, Taylor believes that the industry needs to think more broadly when it comes to the creation of new superyachts. “Stand out from the crowd,” Taylor commented. “Look different in the harbour, and don’t focus on saving the world through function but also saving the world through beauty” he added.

“My dream is that at the top of the [superyacht] ‘shopping list’ it will one day say, ‘I want to leave a legacy and I want to turn a dream into a reality by building a superyacht.’ It’s a very powerful way of thinking,” said James Roy, Managing Director at Lateral Naval Architects, encouraging the industry to welcome owners who wish to break the mould and make a difference with their vessels.

Sanne Schenk, founding partner at TANK concurred with this, and added that “People need to dare to make a difference, they don’t know what the outcome will be but they want to try.”

Concluding the roundtable, Peter Economides, founder of Felix BNI, began by stating that anthropocentric innovation is central. “Companies that are truly obsessed with their customers are the true innovators – and that’s true of any industry. The takeaway [from the panel discussion] is that fundamentally we’re talking about the need for a mindset of collaboration, that acknowledges answers we are looking for within the yachting industry and beyond the industry.

“There are ambitious, visionary owners who are motivated. A yacht owner can do something beyond what a commercial owner can do, as a commercial owner is so bound by regulations in a way that a superyacht owner is not. We can create superyachts that leave a legacy behind,” Economides concluded. 

Project NXT is not intended to be defined as a single project but as a movement. Further to this month’s initial kick-off, Oceanco strives to inspire more pioneers with the ambition to create the most exciting superyachts they can for future generations. These pioneers will also be equally determined to achieve zero impact.

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Lateral Naval Architects

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