The interest in environmental-impacts by yachts seems to have grown up these times. A lot of shipyards, such as Kingship, ISA, or  the already famous WHY concept, have shown high interest in building eco-friendly motor yachts by designing yachts that exceed the MARPOL standards.

The MARPOL convention is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes and entered into force on 2 October 1983. Annexe VI of the convention deals with prevention of the air pollution from ships and entered into force on 19 May 2005.

New technologies, such as the diesel-electric hybrid power system designed by Marquip and Siemens, allows strong gaz emission reduction. With this, the Isa 390 Zero design should emit 95% less of carbon-monoxide in “low-emissions mode”, and will have a “zero-emission mode” autonomy of 3 hours at 6 knots.

But cleaner engine is not the only solution for more eco-friendly yachts. Reducing power consumption onboard by using smarter and power-saving systems is also an option, as for Sabdes‘ 50 Axebow. This Scott Blee designed yacht total power consumption will be kept to a minimum by careful consideration of every technical element throughout; for instance, the vessel will have LED lighting, there will be more reliance on natural cooling to support the air conditioning system, and insulation and window materials are carefully selected.

Audiovisuals and IT systems should also be carefully selected to optimize power consumption and reduce heat dissipation. For instance, TV builder Philips has designed a new 42 inch, 1080p flat Eco-TV with a power consumption rating only 75 Watts that would perfectly fit the main guest TV lounge. For your onboard IP network system, check out new Netgear eco-friendly products equipped with new power management modes that helps in reducing power consumption by as much as 52 percent along with considerable savings on network energy costs.

On large motoryachts, choice of such equipment is paramount to reduce power and cooling system needs. No doubt eco-friendly electronics have great future onboard large motor yachts.