The yacht designers roundtable we organised throughout 2021 has been turned into the Sustainable Yacht Design Taskforce, and launched at the Monaco Yacht Show 2021 last month. For the first time naval architects, interior and exterior designers work together, and in particular on the topic of sustainability.
The taskforce values ensure an output driven and collaborative spirit. Participants will actively share knowledge, experience and assessment results to utilise their key position in order to drive more sustainability through yacht design. Sixteen already committed and call upon their peers to join to accelerate towards a sustainable future.
The first taskforce meeting is planned for 24 November. Interested in joining? Please get in touch for more information.
The Water Revolution team is recently joined by Jelena Dolecek, a freshly graduated Materials Scientist and Engineer from the technical university in Lausanne (EPFL).
She is focused on renewable energies and bio-sourced materials and will accelerate the current projects of our Foundation as a Sustainability Engineer, working from our headquarters in Amsterdam.
Bound to be shared an update in November this year during METSTRADE and The Superyacht Forum, the Yacht Environmental Transparency Index (YETI) is in a crucial fleet review testing phase for arriving at a YETI 1.0 version. YETI will not only enable rewarding serious efforts of reducing environmental impact, but it will also define a new arena for the yachting sector to compete on in delivering the most environmentally friendly operating yachts for their clients.
Read the full column published regarding YETI in the SWZ Maritime here.
There has been a recent change at the Water Revolution Foundation board of directors. We warmly welcome Carlos Vidueira, who’s taking Wayne Huizenga III’s board seat. Wayne has started his own business outside of yachting and we wish him lots of success and thank Wayne for his valuable service on the board. Carlos continues to bring the US perspective and that of marina and refit services to the team.
“As the Chief Operating Officer of the Safe Harbor Superyacht Division, I am responsible for a growing list of facilities that include Rybovich, Lauderdale Marine Center and Newport Shipyard. Working together with Water Revolution Foundation, I am certain that we could jointly find new and exciting implementation and early adoption opportunities for sustainability in, not only the superyacht segment, but also in other boating categories,” said Carlos Vidueira.
The Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMA) programme aims to support the restoration of the balance of life in the ocean by identifying the most important marine habitats for marine mammals and prioritising them for conservation actions. We’re taking on a guiding role, connecting the superyacht industry with the scientific community, and are now calling upon the superyacht community to support the IMMA programme to protect the health of the ocean.
Today marks World Ocean Day, a day when the sustainable management of our world’s oceans is in the spotlight. Today also marks the launch of our ocean conservation programme with a crowdfunding campaign for our first endorsed project: the Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMA) programme.
The IMMA programme aims to support the restoration of the balance of life in the ocean by identifying the most important marine habitats for marine mammals and prioritising them for conservation actions. We’re taking on a guiding role, connecting the superyacht industry with the scientific community, and are now calling upon the superyacht community to support the IMMA programme to protect the health of the ocean.
“The objective of the IMMA programme is to map the world ocean and identify the most important habitats for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals,” said Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, co-chair of the IUCN Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas. “If we don’t know the most important places where whales, dolphins, seals, manatees live in the ocean, we can’t protect them.” Since marine mammals, particularly whales, play a key role in the health of the ocean and the planet, protecting them is of vital importance.
Whales, dolphins and porpoises are iconic marine species that we now know play important roles in ocean life. Not only is there something of wonder, beauty and awe when we see them out on the ocean, but they are also an important part of how our ocean, and our world, works. When whales reach the end of their lives, their sinking bodies put a huge amount of carbon directly into the deep ocean where it can be locked away. During their daily lives they also fertilize the surface waters where they feed mix the waters, as well as fertilising them, creating healthy habitats for phytoplankton – microscopic organisms responsible for creating as much oxygen and absorbing as much CO2 as all forests and grasslands combined. “Put simply, we need to protect whales to protect the ocean’s ability to negate the effects of climate change. This is a nature-based solution for a healthier planet,” said Vienna Eleuteri, initiator and vice-chair of Water Revolution Foundation.
Our crowdfunding campaign is an opportunity for the superyacht community – companies, professionals, owners and charterers alike – to take on a stewardship role of the oceans. Collectively, we can support the important work of the IMMA programme and help protect our oceans.
