MARINE INDUSTRY NEWS
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‘Future of Yacht Recycling’ to
Feature at METS 2015
It’s an issue that won’t go
away. What to do with boats
when they reach the natural
end of their life?
The term ‘End-Of-Life Boats’
and the business prospects
for a form of organised yacht
recycling network have come
to prominence recently
as part of the narrative
in yachting circles, due to
a perfect storm brewing.
The boom years of the 70s
and 80’s, mass producing
GRP yachts from long-life
composite construction
materials, are now presenting
the yachting industry
with some economic and
environmental challenges.
London based Quaynote
Communications in
partnership with YachtMedia
who operate as nautical media
consultants from Rotterdam
in The Netherlands, have
announced a conference
specifically targeted at this
business area, entitled ‘The
Future of Yacht Recycling.’
The one day conference is
to be run in conjunction
with METS 2015 (Marine
Equipment Trade Show) at the
Amsterdam RAI conference
and exhibition centre on
Monday 16th November,
and is fully supported and
sponsored by METS.
The International Council of
Marine Industry Associations
(ICOMIA) has estimated that
there are more than 6 million
recreational craft in Europe
alone, and as we all know,
the larger percentage of
these are constructed from
GRP. The study revealed that
present disposal methods are
crude, and generally involve
chopping up composite
structures and reducing them
to fragments that can be sent
to landfill. This approach is
considered unsustainable in
the long run; already certain
countries, such as Germany
and the Netherlands, have
regulations restricting the
disposal of GRP to landfill. So,
recycling will become the only
realistic option.But, something is happening
at last! The sharing of
information between various
EU countries is, and will be
vital. The costs and who pays
will have to be addressed.
Some options such as a EU
administered yearly disposal
tax on all boats, or an ‘up
front’ payment when the
boat is purchased are being
discussed. Towards the end
of this year the Brussels
based European Boating
Industry organisation will
publish for the first time a
set of guidelines designed to
lay down some best practice
examples, and this may lead
to future EU legislation on
disposal of yachts that have
reached their end-of-life.There have been significant
advancements in several
European maritime nationsin the last two years with
some organised yacht
recycling schemes becoming
independently established,
and also some break throughs
in tackling the particularly
challenging problem of cost
effectively recycling GRP,
and finding secondary use
applications for the resulting
reconstituted materials.The Netherlands is a
particularly suitable location
for this inaugural commercial
Yacht Recycling Conference.
Historically Holland is a
leading maritime nation,
and has a very large number
of ageing leisure yachts
in its domestic fleet. The
Dutch government also
prides itself on its care for
the environment, and for
its responsible ecological
management policies, not
least across its vast network of
inland waterways.With this well documented
background, Quaynote and
YachtMedia believe that the
timing is perfect to bring
together in Amsterdam as
many interested parties as
possible, to share experiences,
latest technologies, legislative
updates, commercial funding
possibilities, and of course
business opportunities!e3 Systems
(+34) 971 404 208
[email protected]
http://www.e3s.comKymeta Appoints e3 Systems
as its Partner for Customized
Flat Panel Antenna Solutions
for SuperyachtsSatellite 2015 Conference
and Exhibition, Washington,
D.C., March 17, 2015 —
e3 Systems, a leader in
maritime telecommunications,
IT, TV and content solutions
for the superyacht market,announced today a
partnership with Kymeta
Corporation, the leading
developer of metamaterials-
based antenna technology,
to provide customization
services including Kymeta flat
panel antenna solutions for
superyachts.The Kymeta flat panel
antennas replace the need
for large, mechanically
stabilized antennas that
until now have provided
satellite internet services to
yachts. e3 customization
services for superyachts will
enable the next generation
of communications using
invisible antennas integrated
into the superstructure of
yachts.“This is a major step forward
in global satellite broadband
connectivity and capabilities,”
said Roger Horner,
Managing Director of e3
Systems. “With Kymeta and
Intellian partnering in the
development of maritime
terminals , and with global
service from our major service
provider using Intelsat’s
network of satellites, we have
a tremendously appealing and
credible solution to offer the
superyacht industry.”e3 customization services
will offer optimization of
connectivity to superyachts
across satellites, 4G/LTE and
terrestrial broadband while
cruising, or WiFi in port,
enabling video streaming,
video calling and other
services required by yacht
owners, guests and crew.
This high-speed connectivity
also opens up a new range
of communication solutions
for yachts including IPTV,
telematics and cloud-based
services.“Yachting is an exciting
and compelling market
opportunity,” said Nathan
Kundtz, Kymeta’s President
and CTO. “e3 is a key player
in our vision to enable highly
customizable communications
services and solutions that far
exceeds anything available to
superyacht.