Almost every superyacht builder in the world is vocalising their intention to build greener, smarter, more efficient superyachts. As a journalist, it can be tricky to weed out the greenwashing and beguiling promises from those who are making honest, but less flashy, strides toward sustainable solutions. It is almost refreshing to have to drag out the nuts and bolts of a company’s green credentials as opposed to being bombarded with press releases using all too familiar corporate jargon. Alva Yachts are one of the few companies in yachting that are seeming to approach the environmental crisis with true intentions and a level head. The German company became established in early 2020 with the sole aim of making sustainable, avant-garde, electric yachts. While their solar roof system is a notable and newsworthy effort, the company admit that there is still much work to be done.

Today, it isn’t possible to say that electricity is always generated in a sustainable way. Elements, materials, manufacturing, transportation and the usage profile of yachts are all areas that need improvement, and these issues will not be fixed overnight. Despite the good intentions of the green energy push, the materials used for common solutions aren’t entirely perfect. In Chile, lithium mines have wreaked havoc on the Atacama salt flats, and in the Congo, the hunt for Cobalt – a metal that drastically reduces overheating in batteries- has created a humanitarian crisis in a number of Chinese-run mines. Alva Yachts are aware of the scale of the challenges facing them, and that to label a yacht as something that is ‘fully sustainable’ is much easier said than done.

Milan Henn, the Head of Design at Alva Yachts spoke exclusively with SuperyachtNews about the company’s position in the current market. “For as far as our vision goes, we want to really try to be a leading brand for the solar power movement. With all the interest and the sales right now and the position we have in the market, we know that we are growing, growing quite quickly, and expanding our production as well this year again…

“We think next year will be our impact year where everybody will see that we can deliver on our goals.”

The yacht builders aren’t the only new company making headway in the ‘sustainable catamaran’ sector of the market. And whatever you may think of the actual…