The Dutch shipyard Oceanco has been going from strength to strength over the course of the last decade, and over the last year the shipyard has been dominating the headlines with launches of some of the largest Dutch yachts ever to touch the water. The 109-metre Y720 and the 117-metre Infinity both made waves this year as the result of collaborations with some of the industry's top designers.
Photo: Tom van OossanenAside from these spectacular launches, the shipyard unveiled the Oceanco Life Cycle support in 2021, a refit team and facility that has already been reaping benefits and with the recent completion of refits of the 62.6-metre Oceanco Lucky Lady and the 96.25-metre Lürssen Limitless.
With adaptability and innovation seen as keys to the businesses success, Oceanco’s CEO Marcel Onkenhout added, “It’s also important to embrace collaboration and a partnership mindset in order to make the most impactful changes and improvements in how you operate and what you are offering. We first made a formal commitment to partnership through our Co-maker Unlimited initiative, which brings together a cohort of strategic partners in yacht-building that have a shared vision, mission, goals and values. It removes the linear approach to yacht building and puts in place a framework to allow better communication, collaboration and alignment, resulting in greater superyachts for our clients.” 
Photo: Tom van OossanenIt is due to a dedicated innovation team that Oceanco keeps ahead of its competitors. Lateral Naval Architects have, for many years, played a pivotal partnership role with the shipyard. Together they created the LIFE Design, which was first put to use on 109-metre (357ft) Bravo Eugenia, delivered in 2018. She exhibits best-in-class hydrodynamic efficiency and 30 per cent less fuel usage compared to a conventional superyacht of the same size. She also has a waste heat recovery system and integrated battery system to allow for optimal operation at all times. While Bravo Eugenia has changed the game in terms of design approach, this only scratches the surface of Oceanco’s focus on sustainable innovation.
In September 2020, Oceanco announced Oceanco NXT, a platform with which the shipyard works with key stakeholders, designers and luminaries in yachting and technology to pioneer a new future for the industry. In partnership with Oceanco NXT, the shipyard has been working with a variety of technical partners to find effective and reliable alternative fuel solutions to improve the sustainability of the yachting industry, including the inescapable topic of fuel cell technology among other things. Oceanco also works hard to find new ways to improve the efficiency of our yachts’ energy consumption in order to improve sustainability, through minimising waste as well as reducing consumption. 
The first tangible result of this exciting project was the 90-metre concept Kairos, created with Pininfarina & Lateral Naval Architects and unveiled in September. The yard is now working on two more ‘Tomorrow Designs’ that will follow in Kairos’ footsteps and create a precedent for the future of superyacht design.
It is not only within sustainability that Oceanco has been pouring its energy. Earlier this year the shipyard launched a radical collection of Superyacht NFTs, created in collaboration with designer Timur Bozca. Dr Barwani told SuperYacht Times in 2021 that digitization will be a major part of the industry’s future, and Oceanco has realised that belief. Paris Baloumis, Group Marketing director added, “The world is changing and we believe that the transition to Web3 will touch every part of our lives in some way. Which is why we were motivated to jump in sooner rather than later and be a frontrunner in the industry’s evolution. NFTs felt like a natural progression and we wanted to make sure what we offered would be unique and exciting – to make the exclusive more inclusive. Which is why we are putting fun and engagement at the heart of Superyacht NFTs.”
With a clear focus on sustainability, innovation and an eye on the future, Oceanco will continue to build some of the industry's most trailblazing superyachts. To find out more about Oceanco and its yachts, or to get in touch with the team, reach out to them here: