Five Years on From the Inception of Feadship's YETI

In March 2019, Feadship hosted a select group of industry representatives to discuss an idea called YETI : a science-based, data-driven method that evaluates yachts based on their environmental credentials. 

All those in attendance then agreed to start a Joint Industry Project (JIP) under the umbrella of Water Revolution Foundation. Since then, the initiative has seen an array of developments, now starting the process of being translated into an ISO standard. 

‘Sustainability is essential,’ commented Jan-Bart Verkuyl, Director of Feadship. ‘If we don't do it, we become complacent. There is pressure from our clients, there is pressure from ourselves, there is pressure from our workers, there is pressure from our children. It needs to be done.’

In 2022, the work of YETI-JIP was officially presented at METSTRADE, with YETI 2.0 being unveiled at the same event a year later. This version provided an improved protocol, reviewing factors such as a fleet review showcasing size-related effects of environmental impact. It also created a standardised load balance to address hotel load and facilitate a collective approach to lower energy consumption. 

Bram Jongepier, Senior Design Specialist at Feadship, commented: ‘We are eager to learn as much as we can and act on what we learn… The essential thing to realise is that ‘zero’ doesn't exist. This may shock some people, but zero impact is impossible. You cannot walk on the grass without some degree of impact, but you can do it sustainably if you give the grass time to recover. And that is how we should treat our oceans.’

Feadship’s strategy for 2020-2030 goes far beyond regulatory compliance, aiming for net-zero CO2 emission and minimal local pollution impact. The net zero CO2 target in 2023 was already achieved by the 84.20m OBSIDIAN, featuring diesel electric architecture running on HVO. 

DUNES, which was presented at the Monaco Yacht Show 2023, has also been shown to be able to reduce the environmental impact by 95 percent compared to current minimal regulatory compliance by using fuel cells running on methanol using the YETI calculation method. DUNES and her predecessor PURE are therefore the base-line for designs being contracted and engineered currently, highlighting the success of the YETI method and the pioneering nature of the Dutch yard. 

Jongepier concluded: ‘Thanks to the voluntary cooperation of all those industry experts sharing knowledge and data, the YETI grew into its current form which resembles very well the vision and ideas I had five years ago… We’re very close to the finalisation of a rating scale similar to what you’d expect for your car or your fridge. The method is being consolidated and unwanted complexity removed. I’m extremely proud and happy with the work of the YETI industry group and would like to express my thanks to all the passionate peers that this group is made up of.’