Marc: This has been a hot topic for years now. It’s always under the scope of these materials that come in a non-sustainable way. Because of their exclusivity, or their quality, are always demanded on yachts. So yes, supply chain is always a big topic to discuss with sustainability. I think we have been improving a lot in the past years. Teak is a good example. It is going to be gaining more importance in the coming years.

Laurent: One thing about supply chain procurement, when you say there is over 100 providers. In a shipyard, there are many. But depending on their strategy, a lot of the workforce will be in the shipyard, or it will be outsourced as well. So various type of shipyards have different strategies. But every shipyard in the world use many people & providers. And there is always a mix between things that are custom made (where it is really focused on people and their skills), and a part where you need innovation and the latest technology, whether we’re talking about software, or about propulsion, glass, ventilation, air conditioning being a strong element of the use of energy… any improvement. You always have a combination, which is why you have hundreds of people involved, and hundreds of companies. Of course, this can lead to some issues. Like at the moment, you may want to order a yacht. However, you might be able to build a yacht, but you won’t be able to have an engine. Because it depends on materials that are all very expensive. This is a very delicate and complicated industry. 

Marc: If you take a look at MB92, we are a project management company. We have less than 200 workers. But in our shipyard, we have more than 1000 people working. All the difference between worker is all outsourcing providers working on different areas of the yacht. It’s a very big topic, there is almost always more than one company working on a specific area. And it is always important for each company to be well positioned on matters like sustainability to gain bigger parts of the market, and having an advantage.