Sustainability takes centre stage at Benetti Yachtmaster event

Sustainability was the main theme of the American leg of the 21st Benetti Yachtmaster which took place in Florida last month. The workshop style event reserved specifically for captains and crew, was held in person at the Baker’s Cay Resort in Key Largo using biodegradable materials and low environmental impact products from local brands.

During one workshop, Benetti Americas country manager Nick Bischoff, product marketing coordinator Fabio Fede and Fraser Yachts’ Peter Selivanoff discussed the recent introduction of the IMO TIER standards for vessels of less than 500 gross tonnage, which aim to drastically reduce NOx emissions in ECAs (Emission Control Areas) – these include the entire US coastline.

These standards have been adopted by Benetti, which is now offering a full line of new models (Class, Oasis and B.Yond) which it says can be configured for IMO TIER III thanks to the use of SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction systems) and urea tanks.

In another workshop on low-emissions yachts, Fede talked about how Benetti has successfully managed to market a new 37-metre steel yacht with a hybrid power unit: the B.Yond 37M. The hybrid system – E-Mode – developed in collaboration with Siemens Energy, together with the SCR catalytic filters, is said to enable the B.Yond 37M to appreciably reduce both CO2 and NOx emissions, making her the first “low emission yacht” in her category.

Fede also introduced another Benetti project, the 107-metre Luminosity, the largest hybrid giga yacht ever built. Powered by lithium batteries rated 3 MWh and a diesel-electric propulsion and generation system, the company says Luminosity is one of the most technologically advanced yachts of the 21st century and can enter protected marine areas off-limits to conventional yachts.

The focus then shifted to alternative fuels. This is a field in which Azimut|Benetti says its R&D department is investing so that it can build yachts with increasingly low emissions, using fuels like hydrogen and methane and alternative propulsion technologies like gas, dual-fuel and fuel cell engines.

Roger Trinterud, sales director cruise and yacht at Kongsberg Maritime, closed the session by illustrating Kongsberg’s latest projects. One of these, in collaboration with Benetti, was to build an integrated bridge and propulsion control system for the 107-metre giga yacht Lana.