How can we adopt environmentally responsible practices aboard a yacht to reduce pollution today?

Discover 15 easy steps to take that limit the impact of cruising aboard your PRESTIGE yacht to preserve our ecosystems:

Equipment:

1 - Install an anti-splashback system to avoid spilling fuel when refuelling, and hence to reduce pollution.

2 - Install equipment producing additional renewable energy to support your needs at sea (wind generator, solar panels, hydrogen, etc.).

At port:

3 - Use the facilities at port (WC, shower, dishwasher), and use biodegradable cleaning and hygiene products.

Note:  More and more ports are equipped with facilities for you to discharge the black water of your yacht.

4 - Use shorepower and keep your genset turned off.

5 – Dispose of waste and recycling, pre-sorted aboard your yacht, in the appropriate containers, respecting local recycling guidelines.

Before leaving:

6 – Fuel up early in the morning with a moderate flow in order to have cold fuel, which is less dense and enables you to minimise vapours and evaporations.

7 – Wait several hours to fuel up after a stop by the tanker truck in order to avoid polluting residual deposits, stirred up by the tanker trucks refilling the pump, that could end up in your fuel tank.

8 – Avoid plastic wrapping as much as possible and buy loose or bulk items; favour recyclables and reusables (glass, tins, cardboard); banish forever single-use containers.

At sea:

9 - Choose water-soluble creams and sunscreens over oil-based products that form a film on the sea surface and diminish the photosynthesis that is indispensable to life.

Tip: For example, you can use water-soluble protective lotions and skin products.

10 – Never discharge black water into sensitive zones, which include:  marine protected areas, areas for swimming and mooring, and bodies of water with limited tides and currents.

11 - Organise a selective sort of recycling and waste, and communicate to the crew the measures that will prevent loss due to wind and movements of the yacht.

12 – Do not needlessly run the engine and do not cruise at full throttle.

Note:  By respecting the optimal running speed of your yacht, or even by reducing it by a few knots, you save fuel and reduce pollution.

13 – Reduce your speed in protected natural areas, near beaches and in any sensitive zone to reduce engine and hull noise and reduce your wake, thus limiting the noise pollution of your yacht that might disturb aquatic fauna and flora.

14 - Limit the use of air conditioning to the hottest moments and ensure that your yacht is well insulated.

15 - Prefer mooring buoys to anchoring, when these are available, as this avoids causing damage to the ocean floor and marine resources.  And, whichever type of anchor you use, prefer sandy bottoms (clear zones) and allow sufficient chain length.  Use a buoy line, and always raise the anchor while placing yourself inline with the boat.

Note:  There are ecologically designed anchors, which enable the preservation of marine biodiversity while ensuring the safety of your yacht at anchor, diminishing the risk of drift.

Remember:

Luxury and ecology can be combined to preserve our ecosystems.

To reduce pollution from your yacht, remember the rule of the three Rs:  reduce, reuse and recycle waste, and adopt eco cruising.

These best practices to put into place aboard your yacht are the keys to consuming less and causing less harm to our ecosystems.

Learn how PRESTIGE is committed to reducing its environmental impact, HERE