Maritimo to hold off on hybrid motor yachts, for now

Motor yachts are going through something of a step change as particularly Europe cracks down on on-water emissions sourced from recreational boats, forcing engine makers such as Volvo Penta and Yanmar to look at ways they can reduce pollution.

Volvo Penta is rolling out hybridised drivetrains that use a combination of emission-free battery-driven electric motors and more traditional inboard diesel engines to greatly cut the carbon footprint of motor yachts, and is also testing plug-in hybrids that top up on electricity as well as fuel.

Yamnar, meanwhile, is investigating how future vessels could tap into fuel cell technology by adapting the units built by car-maker Toyota for the marine environment.

However, Maritimo chief executive Phil Candler said while hybrid technology had taken off in the automotive world, it was slow in coming to long-range cruising-focussed motor yachts, and customers had yet to show a shift towards a more environmentally friendly solution.

“The engine companies [that supply engines to Maritimo] are keeping us abreast of all those changes [to introduce hybrid drivetrains],” Candler said.

“We have created the ability that we can integrate some electrical gearbox-type considerations, so we have put that forward as a topic [with potential customers].

However, Candler said customers had not chosen to go down the hybrid path, even on boats that were still years away from delivery.

“The engine options that we are providing, they are choosing, and they’re not requesting anything different at this phase,” he said.

“We've got a lot of forward orders going out into 2024, and we haven't had one [owner] ask yet. 

“The environment’s changing, yes, and I can provide for it, but it is not being driven from owners.”

Maritimo designer Tom Barry-Cotter said the technology used to develop hybrid and electric cars  “isn't quite there yet” for marine engines.

“We can get some of those savings in other ways,” Barry-Cotter said. “We're always looking [for ways to increase efficiency]. We're looking at propellers, we're looking at our hull shapes, just to increase the efficiency by small percentages each time,” he said.

‘But I think it [hybrid engines] has to be it has to be driven by the customers to be realistic, and we're just not seeing that yet.”

Barry-Cotter said the marina industry also had to do its bit to help future owners who did decide to go down the hybrid or fully electric path before the technology could be adapted here.

“Onshore power is already struggling to keep up with the added technologies going into boats now without even taking that next step of actually having to charge the power units on boats,” he said.

“I think that we’re innovators at Maritimo, and we’d love to be able to dive into something like that, but we’re basically waiting for the technology to be there for us to move on it.”

The Maritimo M75, the newest model in the Gold Coast-based luxury motor yacht's line-up, has tapped Scania and Rolls-Royce’s MTU engines to power its new flagship model, with the first deliveries slated for late next year.