VHR interview Jeroen Watts, Managing Partner of The Young Naval Creators (TYNC), to discover how the naval architect designer is disrupting the Marine sector.
'Eco-composites, sustainability and digital technology form the core principles behind TYNC. With design studios based in Valencia (ideally positioned to address the boom of the Spanish Marine sector) and London, the business specialises in designing and engineering powerboats and sailing yachts from sustainable and recycled materials.
'The global Marine industry has been facing an escalating skill shortage for the past few years, with a deficit of over 350,000 crew members and technicians predicted in the next two decades. Many industries, particularly those involving engineering and manufacturing, are finding it harder to reach and engage with younger generations and untapped talent pools.
'TYNC was actually born from the innovation of young people: we started the initiative after receiving lots of applications from young people with great ideas for internships. With exciting sustainable boat design, we are leveraging a younger generation of naval architects – a talent pool who have fresh eyes, no negative preconceptions about what can be done, and who also want to challenge the status-quo.'
'With the last century’s huge growth in plastic production, international waters are experiencing an urgent epidemic: there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean globally by 2050. As plastic at the ocean surface accounts for only 1% of the amount polluting the water, the issue is also hazardous to human health long-term – microplastics and fishing contamination mean one in three fish caught in the UK contains plastic, causing the European Food Safety Authority to issue a recent health warning.
'We engineer and develop motorboats with very low emissions and sailing yachts that are beautifully designed and sustainable. We use materials that are easy to separate at the end of boat lifespan, therefore having less impact on the environment now and in the future.'
'Our main focus for growth in the coming years is the American market. The USA disposed of over 1.5million boats in landfill in the past decade, which costs the US Government $multimillions annually. Sustainable yacht and boat manufacturing will reduce American landfill and improve the country’s carbon footprint and return on investment in the Marine industry.
'We are busy innovating even further, with future designs incorporating the use of Bamboo, and look forward to the next few years of sustainable disruption.'
VHR's Marine recruitment specialist Alejandro Perez comments, 'Due to the big waves they are creating around sustainability, TYNC have reached a point where the shipyards are approaching them to start building/developing their ongoing projects. From a business point of view, this is an ideal situation as a start-up trying to change ways of working in an industry where many are talking about change but are still set in the old ways of boat building. At VHR we are delighted to hear about TYNC's current success and wish them an even greater few years ahead.'
Find out more about What the Future Holds for Marine Sustainability.
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