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At METSTRADE 2025, an industrial alliance
bringing together Arkema, Groupe Beneteau,
Veolia, Composite Recycling, Owens Corning
and Chomarat was named Sustainability
Project of the Year for their work with Elium
recyclable thermoplastic resin – a system that
allows hulls and their fibres to be dismantled
and reintroduced into the manufacturing
process. It is a meaningful moment. Not
because recyclable hulls are now standard,
but because the conversation has shifted. The
question is no longer whether sustainable hull
construction is possible. It is how quickly the
industry can get there – and how honest it is
about the obstacles along the way.
What is actually being built
The materials arriving on the workshop floor
are genuinely new. Bio-based epoxy systems
such as Sicomin's SR GreenPoxy 550 are derived
in part from plant sources, eliminating harmful
substances while meeting or exceeding the
properties of traditional resins. Compared
to a traditional full-carbon composite hull, a
hull built with bio-based epoxy and natural
fibres can reduce the construction carbon
footprint by up to 80 per cent, while offering
comparable stiffness and structural integrity.
Natural fibres are also making inroads. Flax
fibre composites are being used by builders,
including Baltic Yachts, with the material
growing from seed to crop in eight weeks,
requiring no irrigation and no chemical inputs.
Meanwhile, companies such as Baltic Yachts
are building hulls from fifty per cent recycled
material, and 3D printing technology is being
applied to hull production – eliminating the
need for moulds and reducing both production
time and material waste.
These are not concept projects. They are
production realities, moving at varying speeds
through different segments of the market.
Where the di昀昀iculty lives
The honest picture is more complicated than
the headlines suggest.
The structural performance of bio-based
and natural fibre systems has improved
considerably, but they are not yet equivalent
to carbon or glass fibre across all applications.
Resin control remains a particular challenge
with natural fibres – without compression,
the fibres can absorb excessive resin, which
affects both weight and consistency. Vacuum
infusion addresses this but introduces its own
environmental considerations through singleuse bagging materials.
End-of-life management presents a deeper
problem. In the EU, there are approximately
80,000 abandoned boats, and projections
indicate that the number of vessels reaching
end-of-life will exceed 30,000 per year by 2030
– an average of over 23,000 tonnes of annual
waste (Springer). Recyclable resin systems
offer a genuine solution to this, but only if the
infrastructure to process them at scale exists.
Currently, it largely does not.
Cost remains the most persistent barrier. Biobased and recyclable materials carry a price
premium that narrows significantly at scale but
remains real at the volumes associated with
superyacht construction. For yards operating
on long build timelines and highly customised
specifications, the commercial case requires
careful construction.
The coatings challenge
Below the waterline, a separate but equally
significant transition is underway.
Traditional antifouling coatings have relied on
toxic biocides that alter the chemical balance
of water bodies, disrupting ecosystems and
reducing biodiversity – and governments
and environmental organisations are pushing
for increasingly strict regulations. The
IMO's Antifouling Convention has already
banned organotin compounds, and the
2023 amendments extended controls to
cybutryne, another antifouling biocide, with
non-compliance risking vessel detention and
disrupted itineraries.
The alternatives are developing quickly. At
METS 2025, Seajet released a new series of
silicone-based, biocide-free coatings, while
coating suppliers are increasingly testing biobased raw materials for use in underwater
coating solutions. Foul-release systems that rely
on physical properties rather than chemistry
to prevent marine growth are gaining traction,
particularly among owners whose vessels move
frequently. For vessels that spend extended
periods at anchor, the performance picture is
less straightforward.
The superyacht industry is under increasing
pressure to reduce its environmental footprint
– not only from owners, but from regulatory
bodies, marinas, charter clients and public
opinion. That breadth of pressure is significant.
It means sustainability in coatings is no longer
driven solely by regulation. It is becoming a
commercial expectation.
Why the pace matters
The superyacht sector is not the primary driver
of global emissions. But it operates under a
level of scrutiny disproportionate to its size,
and the decisions made here tend to travel
downstream into wider marine manufacturing.
With sixty per cent of ultra-high-net-worth
superyacht owners now under fifty years
old, sustainability is increasingly a purchasing
priority rather than an afterthought – and that
demographic shift is expected to accelerate
investment in green technology across the sector.
The race to zero is real. But it is not a sprint.
It is a structural transformation of how hulls
are designed, built, coated and eventually
recovered – and it is happening across
workshops, chemistry laboratories and
regulatory bodies simultaneously.
For the yards, suppliers and finishing teams at
the centre of it, the challenge is not deciding
whether to engage. It is keeping pace with
a transition that is moving faster than many
anticipated, with solutions that are promising
but not yet fully proven at scale.
The hull is changing. Everything built around it
will need to change with it.
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