2024 May June Marina World
The magazine for the marina industry
The magazine for the marina industry
- No tags were found...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>Marina</strong><br />
www.marinaworld.com<br />
<strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
Issue 143<br />
Essential reading for marina and waterfront developers, planners and operators
SUPERDOCKS <br />
PUSHING LIMITS<br />
SF <strong>Marina</strong> is a world-renowned expert on developing new or existing<br />
premium marinas. We provide state-of-the-art floating breakwaters and<br />
concrete pontoons to anyone anywhere who plans on building a marina<br />
with superyacht berths. And who wants it to still be there after the storm.<br />
W W W . S F M A R I N A . C O M
<strong>Marina</strong><br />
<strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong> Vol. 24, No. 5<br />
13<br />
30<br />
CONTENTS<br />
<strong>World</strong> News 7<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> Planning & Design<br />
The multiple factors in modern design 13<br />
Planning Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> 18<br />
Sustainable design is just “good design” 21<br />
Living Seawalls 27<br />
Company Focus 30<br />
Italian marina build company Ingemar celebrates<br />
45 years in <strong>2024</strong>. CEO and founder, Lorenzo Isalberti,<br />
talks to <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>Marina</strong> Groups 34<br />
Private Mediterranean marina network, Marinedi, is on an<br />
ambitious path to protect the environment<br />
Buying & Selling <strong>Marina</strong>s 37<br />
37<br />
Smart Technology 49<br />
Product and service providers give advice on the most<br />
cost-effective ways to adopt smart systems<br />
Products, Services & People 56<br />
On the cover:<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> di Vieste is one of<br />
15 marinas in the Marinedi<br />
group portfolio. Racking up<br />
an important influence in the<br />
Mediterranean marina sector,<br />
the group has set high goals<br />
for sustainability and is in the<br />
forefront of defending and<br />
promoting the tourist port<br />
industry. Read more p.34<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
3
<strong>Marina</strong><br />
<strong>World</strong><br />
FROM THE EDITOR<br />
HEAD OFFICE MAILING ADDRESS &<br />
SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES<br />
Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd,<br />
School Farm, School Road, Terrington St. John,<br />
Cambridgeshire PE14 7SJ, UK<br />
Editor<br />
Carol Fulford<br />
T: +44 (0) 1945 881018<br />
E: carolfulford@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
Deputy Editor<br />
Charlotte Niemiec<br />
T: +44 (0) 1945 881018<br />
E: charlotteniemiec@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
Advertisement/Commercial Director<br />
Julia Hallam<br />
T: +44 (0) 1621855 890<br />
E: juliahallam@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
Administration Manager<br />
Corinna Francis T: +44 (0) 1621855 890<br />
E: corinnafrancis@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
Finance Manager<br />
Magdalena Charman T: +44 (0) 1403 733678<br />
E: accounts@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
Advertisement Production<br />
Charlie Dragazis T: +44 (0) 7973 540834<br />
E: adstudio@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
NORTH AMERICAN OFFICE<br />
Sales Director Americas<br />
Philippe Critot<br />
PO Box 29759, Los Angeles, CA 90029-0759, USA<br />
T: +1 323 660 5459 F: +1 323 660 6030<br />
E: pcritot@marinaworld.com<br />
FRENCH OFFICE<br />
Publisher’s Representative<br />
Catherine Métais T: +33 6 60 17 75 81<br />
E: catherinemetais@marinaworld.com<br />
ITALIAN OFFICE<br />
Advertisement Representative<br />
Ediconsult Internazionale srl<br />
piazza Fontane Marose 3,<br />
16123 Genoa, Italy<br />
T: +39 010 583 684 F: +39 010 566 578<br />
E: genova@ediconsult.com<br />
Subscription Enquiries<br />
E: subs@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> (ISSN 1471-5856) is published bimonthly<br />
by Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd, School Farm,<br />
School Road, Terrington St. John, Cambridgeshire<br />
PE14 7SJ, United Kingdom.<br />
The <strong>2024</strong> US annual subscription price is $160.<br />
Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named WN<br />
Shipping USA, 156-15 146 th Avenue, 2 nd Floor, Jamaica,<br />
NY 11434, USA.<br />
Periodicals postage paid in Jamaica NY 11434.<br />
US Postmaster: Please send address changes to<br />
MARINA WORLD, WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146 th<br />
Avenue, 2 nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA.<br />
Subscription records are maintained at Loud & Clear<br />
Publishing Ltd, School Farm, School Road, Terrington<br />
St. John, Cambridgeshire PE14 7SJ, United Kingdom.<br />
Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> is available on subscription at the following<br />
cost:<br />
1 year (6 issues) – £80.00 Sterling ($160)<br />
2 years (12 issues) – £140.00 Sterling ($280)<br />
No part of this publication may be reproduced without<br />
the prior permission of Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd, the<br />
copyright owners. Upon application, permission may be<br />
freely granted to copy abstracts of articles on condition<br />
that a full reference to the source is given.<br />
Printed in the UK by Stephens & George<br />
Perfecting<br />
plans<br />
As you will read in this issue, industry experts need to take an increasing<br />
number of factors, aspirations and practicalities into account when planning<br />
and designing a new marina, marina refurbishment or expansion. Lorenzo<br />
Isalberti sums all up neatly in the special Ingemar 45 th anniversary Company<br />
Focus (p.30) by emphasising that marinas are no longer concepts for<br />
‘sheltering and parking boats’ but hubs that centralise and provide different<br />
services for water-related experiences.<br />
Mike Ward and Simon Goodhead of UK company <strong>Marina</strong> Projects, when<br />
examining the multiple factors in modern design, tell us that in some markets their<br />
clients are regularly asking them to “break the mould” – and do something exciting<br />
that has not been seen before. But innovation, as they stress, has to dovetail with<br />
supply, practicalities and codes. Early project design stages are peppered with<br />
“healthy debate” and site conditions need to be balanced with vision and aspirations<br />
so as to identify the “optimum marina design solution.”<br />
Owners of new marinas often want to enter the market at the top of the class;<br />
seeking designs and facilities that will secure the highest recognised industry<br />
accreditations – immediately. <strong>Marina</strong> Projects balances this goal with sustainable<br />
design principles, and educates clients with regard to the operational procedures<br />
and processes they need to implement so as to meet these exacting accreditation<br />
standards. And, of course, all design needs to take “sustainability” into account.<br />
Esteban Biondi of US-based Applied Technology & Management bases his article<br />
(p.21) on the fact that sustainable design is nothing other than “good design”. Good<br />
design enhances value, reduces risk, and reduces costs on multiple time and spatial<br />
scales, he says. It’s about people, the environment, and connectivity.<br />
The PIANC Working Group 148 report published in 2023 states that we should<br />
seek proactive inclusion of ecological features and identify opportunities for guest<br />
experience that provide direct benefits to the local community.<br />
Climate change mitigation should be factored in realistically with designs that can<br />
be adapted to future change – but meet all the requirements appropriately for now<br />
and for the near future.<br />
Operationally, marinas now need to be “smart”. Ward and Goodhead note that<br />
the correct physical infrastructure needs to form part of the initial design so as to<br />
integrate with ongoing marina operations, and Idan Cohen of Pick a Pier asserts “the<br />
future of marinas lies in their evolution into smart, interconnected hubs that optimise<br />
decision-making and provide valuable insights.” Read more in the Smart Technology<br />
feature p.49.<br />
Designing and maintaining marinas at the highest level boosts their value as an<br />
asset class. Suntex, already the largest marina group in the USA, is now poised to<br />
spend a further US$1.25 billion on marina acquisitions (p.7) and global investment<br />
shows no sign of flagging (see p. 37 for our new regular section on Buying & Selling<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s).<br />
© <strong>2024</strong> Loud & Clear Publishing Ltd<br />
Views expressed by individual contributors in this issue<br />
are not necessarily those of Loud & Clear Publishing<br />
Ltd. Equally, the inclusion of advertisements in this<br />
magazine does not constitute endorsement of the<br />
companies, products and services concerned by Loud &<br />
Clear Publishing Ltd. The publisher reserves the right to<br />
refuse advertising.<br />
Carol Fulford<br />
Editor<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
5
STRONG · SAFE · SUSTAINABLE<br />
SEAFLEX<br />
<br />
1975. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
NEW PRODUCTS AND PATENTS - TWICE<br />
THE STRENGTH & SAFETY FACTOR<br />
'<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
CUSTOM<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
QUALITY<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ENVIRONMENT<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
TECHNOLOGY<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
VALUE<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Headquarters<br />
SEAFLEX AB<br />
<br />
P<br />
Americas<br />
SEAFLEX, Inc.<br />
<br />
P<br />
Oceania<br />
SEAFLEX Australia<br />
<br />
P<br />
THE MOORING SYSTEM
WORLD NEWS<br />
Billion dollar spend<br />
on US marinas<br />
USA: Suntex <strong>Marina</strong> Investors, the largest stand-alone marina owner in the US,<br />
and Centerbridge Partners have established a Joint Venture (JV) backed by<br />
Centerbridge-affiliated funds and global institutional investors to acquire over<br />
US$1.25 billion in new marinas across the United States.<br />
The funds will be used to support<br />
new acquisitions and capital<br />
improvements at recently acquired<br />
facilities, as well as for several<br />
development projects across the<br />
country. The day-to-day operations of<br />
the JV will be managed by Suntex,<br />
for which it will receive customary<br />
fees. The transaction further expands<br />
Suntex’s partnership with Centerbridge,<br />
which first invested in the company in<br />
2021.<br />
In connection with the transaction,<br />
the JV also closed on a revolving credit<br />
facility of up to $600 million.<br />
“We’re thrilled to close on this<br />
joint venture to usher in new growth<br />
for Suntex <strong>Marina</strong>s,” said Bryan<br />
Redmond, CEO Suntex <strong>Marina</strong>s.<br />
“While our team continues to increase<br />
our interest in new acquisitions, a<br />
portion of these funds are going to be<br />
dedicated towards redevelopment and<br />
enhancement of new marinas as well.<br />
We have an incredible opportunity to<br />
further grow our network from coast<br />
to coast and improve upon the Suntex<br />
experience. We are confident that our<br />
guests will enjoy what we have in store.”<br />
“The marina industry has shown<br />
consistently strong fundamentals<br />
for many years as enthusiasts have<br />
invested in more and bigger boats while<br />
the availability of high-quality marinas<br />
and boat storage remains scarce,”<br />
said William Rahm, chairman Suntex<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s and global head of real estate<br />
Centerbridge Partners. “Bryan and the<br />
Suntex team have a demonstrated track<br />
record of acquiring quality properties,<br />
enhancing operations for customers<br />
and adding value though accretive<br />
capital investments.”<br />
Read more on sales and acquisitions<br />
in our NEW regular section ‘Buying &<br />
Selling <strong>Marina</strong>s’ p.37<br />
Full steam ahead<br />
in Taichung<br />
TAIWAN: The Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) is making good<br />
progress with its master plan to promote the Port of Taichung as a central<br />
Taiwan mecca for tourism and recreation.<br />
Two wharves on the northwest side<br />
of Mitsui Outlet Park, a mall that has<br />
attracted tens of millions of visitors<br />
since opening in December 2018, have<br />
been designated for a leisure marina.<br />
Taiwanese yacht club operator Argo<br />
Yachts Development Co has leased the<br />
space and will build an international<br />
standard marina on the site.<br />
There are subsequent plans to<br />
develop hotel, dining and retail<br />
services, as well as family arts and<br />
entertainment and marine education<br />
facilities. The ultimate goal is to create<br />
a multi-faceted complex tailored to<br />
serve the entertainment, recreation and<br />
pleasure craft support needs of central<br />
Taiwan.<br />
Plans for the project have been under<br />
way for a number of years and Argo<br />
Yachts won the tender in a third round of<br />
bidding in autumn 2023, securing a 30-<br />
year build and operate lease that covers<br />
a total area of 10.7ha (26.4 acres),<br />
5.9ha (14.5 acres) of which is on land.<br />
The development will proceed in two<br />
phases, starting with the installation<br />
of breakwater facilities and berths<br />
for around 30 boats, a temporary<br />
clubhouse and boatyard. Phase two will<br />
add 50 further berths as well as a hotel<br />
and family-friendly amusement facility.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
7
QUICK AND<br />
CLEAN<br />
WASTEWATER<br />
DISPOSAL<br />
PierPump - hassle-free disposal of waste water and bilge water<br />
from boats and yachts<br />
Skippers and landlubbers alike are clear about one thing: water is<br />
precious. Whether due to legal requirements or on their own initiative,<br />
more and more port operators also feel obliged to offer a professional<br />
disposal station for waste water and bilge water. With its powerful and<br />
robust rotary lobe pump the PierPump from Vogelsang comes at just<br />
the right time for all of them. It is easy to install and can be used by boat<br />
operators at the touch of a button. Emptying the tank takes just a few<br />
minutes and the waste water is discharged directly into the port‘s waste<br />
water system.<br />
More information at:<br />
vogelsang.info/int/pierpump-<strong>2024</strong><br />
VOGELSANG LEADING IN TECHNOLOGY<br />
vogelsang.info
WORLD NEWS<br />
Oasis expands reach to Texas<br />
USA: Oasis <strong>Marina</strong>s has been contracted to manage JMK5 <strong>Marina</strong> in Kemah,<br />
Texas. This is the specialist marina management company’s first managed<br />
property in Texas and thus expands its reach beyond the Mississippi River and<br />
into the bustling boating market of Clear Lake.<br />
“JMK5 <strong>Marina</strong> is the perfect fit for<br />
our expansion into Texas, thanks to<br />
its prime location on Clear Lake and<br />
the marina’s outstanding amenities,”<br />
said Oasis <strong>Marina</strong>s CEO Kenneth<br />
Svendsen. “We’re eager to bring our<br />
expertise and passion for high quality<br />
marina management to Texas, and<br />
even more excited to make a positive<br />
impact at JMK5 <strong>Marina</strong>.”<br />
JMK5 is a full service marina with<br />
immediate access to Galveston Bay.<br />
Located just outside of Houston, it<br />
features 331 wet slips and a range<br />
of amenities including a beautiful<br />
swimming pool, a covered deck, and a<br />
barbeque and picnic area.<br />
The marina is a popular destination<br />
for both tourists and the many boaters<br />
that call Clear Lake home. Known for<br />
its boardwalk and proximity to Houston,<br />
Kemah offers a lively atmosphere with a<br />
rich history as a commercial shrimping<br />
town turned leisure destination.<br />
“Oasis <strong>Marina</strong>s’ reputation for<br />
enhancing the boating experience<br />
aligns perfectly with our goals,” said<br />
Jerome Karam, CEO and founder of<br />
JMK5 Holdings. “With Oasis <strong>Marina</strong>s,<br />
we believe our marina will continue<br />
to be a premier destination on Clear<br />
Lake.”<br />
USA: Pink Shell Beach Resort & <strong>Marina</strong> in Fort Myers, Florida now has brand new Golden<br />
Marine aluminium docks after its infrastructure was devastated by storm surge caused by<br />
Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Dock master, David O’Connor, said that, thanks to Golden<br />
Marine, the marina was fully operational within just 14 months, just in time for the season.<br />
Build<br />
starts for<br />
Livorno<br />
ITALY: Construction of the longawaited<br />
Livorno <strong>Marina</strong> commenced<br />
last month (April). The joint venture<br />
with private yachting group Azimut<br />
Benetti and D-Marin will deliver<br />
a notable Mediterranean marina<br />
designed by Archea of Florence.<br />
The entire project is expected to<br />
complete in <strong>June</strong> 2026 although parts<br />
of the marina will be available to<br />
customers ahead of schedule. There<br />
will be a total of 815 berths.<br />
In an investment of €14-15 million,<br />
the project includes renovation of the<br />
docks, meeting spaces, leisure and<br />
entertainment amenities. Significant<br />
parts of the site will be reserved for<br />
restaurants, bars and offices. The<br />
marina will feature natural elements,<br />
such as trees and hedges, in place<br />
of fencing, solar panels to produce<br />
a significant proportion of energy,<br />
and rainwater recovery systems for<br />
irrigating green spaces.<br />
Luca Salvetti, mayor of Livorno, said<br />
the City was delighted to have its own<br />
marina. “After 16 years, the procedure<br />
to effectively grant the concession was<br />
finalised,” he explains. “This represents<br />
another milestone in the development,<br />
growth and transformation of the city,<br />
which will benefit from the boost to the<br />
local economy in terms of both tourism<br />
and employment.”<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
9
Delivering the marinas<br />
of tomorrow<br />
Dubai Harbour - United Arab Emirates<br />
Hi-tech solutions to connect land and sea<br />
Pontoons, breakwaters, superyacht piers, floating crossings and<br />
constructions, off-the-shelf or customised, with robust and<br />
reliable structures in steel, aluminium or concrete.<br />
www.ingemar.it
Dock project completes<br />
for Marine Max<br />
USA: Golden Marine Systems has completed the ‘B’ dock construction<br />
project for Marine Max Pensacola. The newly constructed dock measures an<br />
impressive 358ft (109m) long, has side-to-tie functionality and comprises 19<br />
slips designed to accommodate vessels of up to 70ft (21m) in length. The<br />
addition of a 100ft (30m) fuel<br />
dock, featuring custom flotation<br />
tailored for a ship store,<br />
enhances the dock’s versatility.<br />
Golden used its 850 Series<br />
single track pontoon system with<br />
Endeck PVC decking and 12in<br />
(30cm) GMS adjustable cleats for<br />
secure mooring, along with pile<br />
guides and finger piers to enhance<br />
functionality and safety for boaters.<br />
GCG Construction, a general<br />
contractor based in Fort Myers,<br />
Florida, played a pivotal role<br />
in overseeing execution, ensuring<br />
adherence to the highest standards of<br />
quality and craftsmanship. Installation<br />
management was handled by Mid-<br />
Coast Marine.<br />
Mike Shanley, president of Golden<br />
Marine Systems, expressed his<br />
gratitude for the seamless collaboration<br />
between Mid-Coast Marine and GCG<br />
Construction, citing their collective<br />
efforts as instrumental in the project’s<br />
resounding success. “The completion<br />
of the ‘B’ dock project for Marine Max<br />
Pensacola exemplifies our unwavering<br />
commitment to delivering superior<br />
marine solutions,” he said. “We are<br />
immensely proud of the craftsmanship<br />
and innovation showcased in this<br />
project, and we look forward to<br />
continuing to exceed the expectations<br />
of our clients.”<br />
New waterfront to revitalise Muscat<br />
OMAN: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MoHUP) has announced<br />
the master plan for a waterfront development in central Muscat, the nation’s<br />
capital. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the $1.3 billion Al Khuwair<br />
Muscat Downtown and Waterfront Development will span 330ha (815 acres)<br />
and is set to revitalise the area.<br />
The district will comprise five<br />
key areas: a marina; a recreational<br />
waterfront lined with beaches<br />
and sports facilities; a canal<br />
walkway; a cultural quarter; and<br />
a Ministry campus. Incorporating<br />
residential areas, extensive<br />
mixed-use developments will cater<br />
for government and commercial<br />
businesses, together with arts,<br />
culture and leisure spaces.<br />
Continuing Muscat’s rich<br />
tradition as a historic port city, the Al<br />
Khuwair development will reflect local<br />
culture, with the marina acting as<br />
the cornerstone of the project. It will<br />
feature a range of attractions while<br />
emphasising green spaces and public realm<br />
along with waterfront, including destination<br />
dining experiences, luxury retail outlets,<br />
health and wellness facilities, hotels and<br />
residential spaces.<br />
WORLD NEWS<br />
Algarve marina<br />
now in build<br />
PORTUGAL: Further to plans<br />
revealed during the ICOMIA <strong>World</strong><br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s Conference in Vilamoura<br />
last October (see report in <strong>Marina</strong><br />
<strong>World</strong> November/December 2023),<br />
Vilamoura <strong>Marina</strong> on the Algarve<br />
coast has now begun construction<br />
of its new associated marina.<br />
Three pontoons with a total of 68<br />
berths will be installed, equipped with<br />
the latest technologies. All berths are<br />
specifically designed for large boats<br />
of 20 to 40m (66 to 131ft) in order to<br />
respond to the fast-growing popularity<br />
of boats in this size range, and<br />
strengthen the destination’s capacity to<br />
attract a high net worth demographic.<br />
Every berth will include multiple<br />
features, such as individual waste water<br />
pump-out systems, charging points<br />
for electric boats, and systems for<br />
remote monitoring and management<br />
of water and electricity consumption.<br />
Work is also underway to explore the<br />
implementation of desalination systems<br />
and photovoltaic energy generation.<br />
Isolete Correia, director of Vilamoura<br />
<strong>World</strong>, commented: “This new marina<br />
in Vilamoura really sets the destination<br />
apart and responds to the growing<br />
needs within the market in relation to<br />
large boats, which currently pass this<br />
part of the coast.”<br />
“The new marina is also the result<br />
of our constant desire to improve the<br />
service we provide to our clients,” she<br />
added. “These clients, and those that<br />
visit and stay in Vilamoura, are the real<br />
focus of this project and are the ones<br />
we work for on a daily basis to provide<br />
them with an ever better and more<br />
extraordinary experience.”<br />
Construction of the marina is<br />
expected to complete by the end of the<br />
year.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
11
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
Portonovi <strong>Marina</strong> in Montenegro was<br />
designed from the outset to achieve high<br />
levels of accreditation.<br />
The multiple factors<br />
in modern design<br />
Modern marina projects have an increasing range of important factors<br />
and considerations that need to be addressed through the marina design<br />
process. Mike Ward and Simon Goodhead of UK-based <strong>Marina</strong> Projects<br />
summarise issues and how they interface with traditional and typical design<br />
considerations.<br />
There is often a complex matrix of<br />
considerations, with different clients<br />
placing emphasis on particular aspects<br />
of the scheme. In part, the reasons for<br />
these varying considerations are the<br />
specific drivers relevant to a particular<br />
client, making each design project<br />
unique. These differences, combined<br />
with factors such as the site conditions<br />
and the resulting design process,<br />
require a tailored approach.<br />
We routinely consider the market<br />
conditions and influences at a particular<br />
site to establish the scale and nature of<br />
demand that can be anticipated. There<br />
must be a significant focus on the site<br />
conditions to establish the physical<br />
and environmental constraints and<br />
opportunities. Balancing these factors<br />
with the client’s vision and aspirations is<br />
at the heart of identifying the optimum<br />
marina design solution.<br />
The same set of principles<br />
applies, whether for a simple marina<br />
reconfiguration and extension project<br />
or integrating the design of a marina<br />
into a new world-class waterfront<br />
development.<br />
So, what are the main factors<br />
influencing marina design studies?<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> accreditation<br />
It is regularly a client requirement<br />
that the new marina must achieve<br />
(and even seek to exceed) industry<br />
recognised accreditation, such as The<br />
Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA)<br />
Gold Anchor Platinum Status. In some<br />
markets we are also regularly being<br />
asked to “break the mould” and do<br />
something exciting, something that<br />
has not been seen before. This is a<br />
clear signal that clients are pushing the<br />
industry to innovate.<br />
There is undoubtedly a tension that<br />
arises with ambitious and lofty goals<br />
to push the boundaries when, at its<br />
heart, the most important aspect of<br />
any marina is that it must first and<br />
foremost provide a safe haven, a calm<br />
environment for leisure boaters and<br />
their boats. ‘Safe’ and ‘calm’ are not<br />
necessarily words that ambitious and<br />
driven clients want to hear. Striking the<br />
right balance between the traditional<br />
and innovative can provide for some<br />
healthy debate during the early design<br />
stages of a project.<br />
Of course, ambition and innovation<br />
often come at a price, both directly<br />
in terms of infrastructure and capital<br />
expenditure, but also indirectly in<br />
terms of efficiency and utilisation of<br />
water space. Testing design concepts<br />
through business planning and viability<br />
modelling can<br />
both flush<br />
out the true<br />
aspirations and<br />
ambition of a<br />
client, but also<br />
help to identify<br />
the longer term<br />
commitment<br />
to deliver and<br />
maintain the<br />
Mike Ward<br />
necessary<br />
operational standards required to<br />
sustain the marina accreditation. As<br />
part of this process, there is often a<br />
natural filtering of elements that won’t<br />
have a meaningful bearing on the final<br />
marina product.<br />
Sustainability<br />
Key pillars of modern marina design<br />
are matters relating to sustainable<br />
design principles, products and<br />
working practices/operations, which<br />
are becoming increasingly important<br />
as awareness across the industry<br />
continues to improve and develop.<br />
Sustainability essentially refers to<br />
“meeting the needs of today without<br />
compromising<br />
the needs of<br />
tomorrow” and<br />
can be mostly<br />
captured under<br />
three primary<br />
headings,<br />
environment;<br />
social; and<br />
economic. In<br />
Simon Goodhead<br />
broad terms,<br />
delivering projects to address matters<br />
arising under each of the three<br />
headings in a symbiotic and cohesive<br />
manner is pertinent to sustainable<br />
marina design.<br />
There are many challenges that<br />
clients and operators can be presented<br />
with; particularly with existing marinas<br />
seeking to increase their ‘sustainable<br />
profile’. Examples include the<br />
introduction of sustainable working<br />
practices, such as ‘closed loop washdown’<br />
in boatyards, which can be both<br />
expensive in terms of capital investment<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
13
: The Future of <strong>Marina</strong> Storage<br />
Why choose automated storage and retrieval?<br />
• Increased storage capacity<br />
• Reduced risk & costs<br />
Call GCM Today!<br />
• Increased facility efficiency (239) 334-8800<br />
• Less downtime for repairs<br />
gcmcontracting.com<br />
• Solar power capability<br />
asarautomation.com<br />
Powered by<br />
Automated Storage and Retrieval<br />
Design, Manufacture and Installation of Floating Pontoons, <strong>Marina</strong>s and Fishing Ports.<br />
(+34) 986 607 235
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
Applying modern marina design codes<br />
ensures optimum berthing arrangements.<br />
and require regulatory approval, and<br />
converting traditional swing moorings<br />
that create scour on the seabed to<br />
more sustainable ‘eco moorings’ that<br />
are less proven in design terms and<br />
fundamentally will not increase the<br />
revenue generation. It is important<br />
to build a compelling argument to<br />
change needs to satisfy the primary<br />
sustainability headings. In simple terms,<br />
moving towards improved sustainable<br />
design requires a commitment from<br />
our clients and the marina industry to<br />
ensure that our sector continues to<br />
thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.<br />
Programmes such as Clean <strong>Marina</strong><br />
and Blue Flag are examples of leading<br />
industry initiatives that are providing<br />
the guidance and framework upon<br />
which operators can demonstrate<br />
their environmental awareness and<br />
underpin their credentials along with a<br />
commitment to ongoing improvement.<br />
The international clean marina<br />
programmes typically consider the<br />
impact of marina operations on the<br />
water body, but historically there has<br />
been more of a focus in predominantly<br />
assessing marina operations through<br />
site management, environmental best<br />
practice and customer engagement.<br />
However, with the global focus on<br />
sustainability, emphasis is emerging<br />
on the design, technical specification<br />
and aesthetics of marina infrastructure,<br />
and it is our responsibility to ensure<br />
that the principles of sustainability can<br />
be delivered by the operating marina<br />
post-design.<br />
Salt marsh monitoring on the<br />
Beaulieu River in Hampshire,<br />
England protects the natural environment.<br />
Smart marinas<br />
What is a smart marina and what is<br />
the role of design in achieving smart<br />
marinas?<br />
The International Council of Marine<br />
Industry Associations (ICOMIA) <strong>Marina</strong><br />
Group usefully defines a smart marina<br />
as “a marina that is first and foremost<br />
easily accessible by boaters and other<br />
stakeholders through digital platforms<br />
and physical data collection sources,<br />
such as interconnected sensors. It<br />
optimises operations through analysis<br />
of the collected data and adjusts them<br />
accordingly.”<br />
More broadly, there is an observed<br />
potential to connect marinas with<br />
surrounding services of local<br />
community facilities, external service<br />
providers, and for smart marinas to be<br />
interconnected.<br />
Similarly to achieving marina<br />
accreditation, it can be seen that the<br />
physical smart marina infrastructure<br />
and systems must be completely<br />
integrated with the ongoing marina<br />
operations. As the marina designer,<br />
communicating this essential link<br />
through to marina operations, even<br />
at the conceptual design stage, is of<br />
paramount importance.<br />
Retaining that link all the way<br />
through the design, construction<br />
and implementation phases can be<br />
particularly challenging, not least<br />
because so often the larger waterfront<br />
development projects have a significant<br />
lifespan often of many years.<br />
Design codes<br />
The role of design codes in achieving<br />
marina accreditation, sustainable<br />
design and smart marinas is<br />
an interesting topic worthy of<br />
consideration.<br />
On the face of it, there is a natural<br />
link between marina accreditation<br />
and the application of design codes<br />
but simply meeting the code will not<br />
achieve the accreditation standard<br />
because, quite rightly, the standard<br />
requires extensive consideration of how<br />
the infrastructure is applied in practice<br />
to deliver for the needs of the customer.<br />
Accordingly, there is a significant<br />
role for operational procedures<br />
and processes in the accreditation<br />
assessment, and communicating this to<br />
our wide range of clients can present a<br />
challenge. At one end, marina operator<br />
clients are very familiar with the<br />
operating procedures, processes and<br />
requirements, but ambitious waterfront<br />
developers generally less so.<br />
There is more that design codes can<br />
do to support the marina accreditation<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
15
Leading UK Manufacturer<br />
GOLD STANDARD<br />
MARINA SERVICES<br />
Seen across prestigious marinas and<br />
waterfronts globally since 1990<br />
Let’s discuss<br />
your next<br />
development<br />
today!<br />
COMPLETE TURNKEY SOLUTIONS<br />
• Development surveys<br />
• M&E designs<br />
• Branding<br />
• Installation & project management<br />
• Expert aftersales support<br />
• Aiding sustainability goals<br />
• Comprehensive product range<br />
• Emergency equipment<br />
• Sanitation pump-outs<br />
• Superyacht services<br />
• E-boat & EV chargepoints<br />
• Smart metering<br />
For more details contact Rolec’s <strong>Marina</strong> team<br />
t: +44 (0) 1205 724754<br />
e: rolec@rolecserv.co.uk<br />
www.rolecserv.com
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
process, and it is also the case that<br />
design standards need to be brought<br />
up to date to take account of innovation<br />
and the changing marketplace.<br />
Undoubtedly, design codes also<br />
need to give more consideration to<br />
sustainability and smart marinas/<br />
technology.<br />
Evolving customer<br />
profiles<br />
The issue of sustainability in marina<br />
design and operation naturally leads<br />
to early consideration of tomorrow’s<br />
customer. That comes against a<br />
backdrop of changing boating trends<br />
both in terms of vessel propulsion but<br />
also user expectations. The advent<br />
and growth of boat clubs as a way of<br />
seeding customer interest certainly<br />
adds another user group to the<br />
consideration during market studies,<br />
and demand projections must provide<br />
for expansion of the marketplace and<br />
increasing vessel size as a result.<br />
From start to finish<br />
A consistent theme of the marina<br />
design detail, as outlined above,<br />
emphasises the need to dovetail<br />
with the final operational standards<br />
and procedures, particularly if<br />
accreditation, sustainability and smart<br />
marina objectives are to be realised.<br />
Experience shows that if the main<br />
Porto Montenegro was designed to meet<br />
the needs of different vessel sizes including<br />
superyachts.<br />
factors described are not considered<br />
at early feasibility and concept<br />
design stages, it can be challenging<br />
to retrospectively redesign and<br />
incorporate key requirements into a<br />
client’s masterplan.<br />
It is often the case that the wider<br />
development objectives and vision<br />
necessitate the requirement for<br />
exploring such initiatives, and<br />
maintaining that continuity through the<br />
life of a project and into the operational<br />
phase often calls for <strong>Marina</strong> Projects to<br />
take up a role as the marina champion<br />
or marina design guardian.<br />
Evidence of the evolving nature of<br />
marina design and the matrix of design<br />
Designing and upgrading marinas in<br />
sensitive areas of natural beauty requires<br />
careful consideration of site conditions and<br />
environmental constraints.<br />
considerations is observed by the<br />
increasing recognition and request for<br />
us to retain ownership and coordination<br />
of the design throughout the life of<br />
the project. As the various delivery<br />
packages come forward, it is important<br />
to maintain and protect the overarching<br />
vision for the development, to ensure<br />
that the initial premise does not become<br />
diluted through ‘value engineering’<br />
exercises that are often the result of<br />
internal and external influences and<br />
pressures.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
17
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
Artist’s impression of the completed<br />
Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> at Port Hedland in<br />
Western Australia.<br />
Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong>:<br />
a refuge from industry<br />
Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> at Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is<br />
set to transform the busy industrial waterfront into an attractive destination for<br />
locals and tourists to visit, with a grand opening expected later this year.<br />
The Hedland community has<br />
held aspirations for a marina since<br />
the 1980s and the AU$187 million<br />
Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> project – a key<br />
election commitment from the Western<br />
Australia Government – is unlikely to<br />
disappoint. It is being delivered by the<br />
country’s largest port, Pilbara Ports,<br />
and is funded by the state government,<br />
the town of Port Hedland and resources<br />
company BHP. When complete, it will<br />
join a crop of marinas springing up<br />
along the Western Australian coast,<br />
including the world-class Ocean Reef<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> in Joondalup.<br />
Naturally deep waters have helped<br />
Port Hedland achieve its status as the<br />
highest tonnage port in Australia. Each<br />
year, around 3,300 vessels come and<br />
go, transporting 566.5 million tonnes of<br />
cargo. The town is also famous for its<br />
enormous trains, with one BHP train<br />
in 2001 setting the world record for the<br />
longest and heaviest train at 7.3km (4.5<br />
miles) long, comprising 682 cars and<br />
hauling 82,000 tonnes of ore.<br />
While the sight of such large<br />
vessels and trains is awe-inspiring, to<br />
improve access and ensure safety for<br />
recreational boaters and fishermen<br />
Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> sits at the end of<br />
a separate navigational channel that<br />
splinters off from the main shipping<br />
lane.<br />
Led by Australian landscape<br />
architects and environmental<br />
consultants, Emerge, and working<br />
closely with DevelopmentWA, the<br />
new marina has been designed to<br />
alleviate demand on the existing boat<br />
launching facilities at Port Hedland. Its<br />
construction has provided a boost to<br />
the Pilbara economy, with more than<br />
60% of project spend to date awarded<br />
to local and registered Aboriginal<br />
businesses and more than 200 local<br />
jobs generated during the construction<br />
period.<br />
The marina has been in the planning<br />
pipeline for more than a decade,<br />
Emerge says, but due to the size and<br />
scale of previous concept plans, as well<br />
as funding constraints, the project was<br />
put on hold.<br />
The initial proposal was for dredging<br />
works resulting in up to 900,000m³ of<br />
dredge spoil, dredged to a maximum<br />
depth of -2m chart datum. The dredge<br />
spoil will be used onsite as fill material<br />
to raise the finished ground level before<br />
landscaping, with excess material<br />
disposed of offsite. Plans also involved<br />
clearing and ground disturbance<br />
of up to 40ha (99 acres) within a<br />
development area of around 77ha (190<br />
acres).<br />
The budget was set at AU$121.5<br />
million and the project was expected to<br />
complete by late 2022, but both budget<br />
and time to complete the work have<br />
been significantly extended.<br />
The marina boat ramp was officially<br />
opened to the Hedland community<br />
in January <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
18 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
A two-platform public jetty has been<br />
designed to account for fluctuating tides.<br />
Construction underway<br />
Construction of the marina is now well<br />
advanced, Pilbara Ports project director<br />
– Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong>, John Freimanis,<br />
told <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong>. A four-lane boat<br />
ramp has been installed, with floating<br />
pontoons that rise and fall with the<br />
tides, allowing it to be accessible to<br />
the public at all tides. The pontoons<br />
are designed to lay flat, removing the<br />
need for split levels and making the<br />
ramp suitable for wheelchair users. The<br />
marina has 22 boat pens, with capacity<br />
to expand to 80 pens in the future. A<br />
two-platform jetty has been designed to<br />
account for Port Hedland’s fluctuating<br />
tides. The top level is wheelchair<br />
friendly and includes lowered handrail<br />
sections so that children and people of<br />
all abilities can fish from the jetty. Six<br />
artificial reef balls have been installed<br />
underneath to create an inviting habitat<br />
for fish. Pilbara Ports is also building<br />
trailer parking for up to 200 vehicles.<br />
The final stage of construction will<br />
bring the marina vision to life and<br />
provide a vibrant foreshore area for<br />
locals and visitors to gather. This<br />
stage includes the delivery of retaining<br />
walls, footpaths, landscaping, a public<br />
amenities building, shade structures<br />
and the installation of utilities and<br />
services. Pilbara Ports will also<br />
plant around 700 trees in this final<br />
stage. For the public, there will be an<br />
accessible breakwater with pedestrian<br />
path, recreation and event space,<br />
a waterfront promenade, barbecue<br />
facilities and an art and cultural<br />
gathering space. Nine unique artworks<br />
by indigenous Kariyarra artists have<br />
Artificial reef balls will be<br />
installed underneath the jetty<br />
to create an inviting habitat for fish.<br />
been selected for the marina and their<br />
fabrication is ongoing.<br />
The marina will also boast a<br />
maintenance hardstand, two fish<br />
cleaning stations with six taps and 20<br />
CCTV cameras for security purposes.<br />
The lights at Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> have<br />
been designed to minimise impacts to<br />
turtles at the nearby Cemetery Beach –<br />
an important nesting site.<br />
The marina is being opened to<br />
the public in stages. The first stage,<br />
which included the public boat ramp<br />
facility, car park and main access road,<br />
was officially opened to the public in<br />
January. The boat ramp opening hours<br />
are currently 6am to 6pm, daily, and<br />
will be increased to 24 hours a day<br />
once the marina lights are operational.<br />
The boat pens will be the next stage to<br />
open, which is expected by mid-<strong>2024</strong>.<br />
Civil and landscaping construction is<br />
well progressed, with construction of<br />
the concrete retaining walls progressing<br />
well around the promenade/central hub<br />
in the southeast corner of the marina<br />
basin. Western Australian business<br />
Ertech was awarded the contract for<br />
the works. Work has also<br />
begun on the footpaths<br />
near the boat pens and<br />
boat ramp, using decorative<br />
exposed aggregate paving.<br />
The picnic shelters are<br />
also being installed, with<br />
footings constructed and<br />
steelwork going in. Steel<br />
columns have been erected<br />
for the shade structure<br />
near the public amenities<br />
building. Installation of<br />
underground services<br />
continues, including<br />
irrigation, power and communications.<br />
The marina has also begun work<br />
on curved seats that emerge from<br />
the ground, hand made using local<br />
Karratha stone.<br />
Work is expected to continue until<br />
late <strong>2024</strong>, when the marina will<br />
fully open. When the boat pens are<br />
operationally ready, the Department of<br />
Transport will take over operation of the<br />
marina.<br />
In harmony with nature<br />
Despite its fame as a transport hub,<br />
Port Hedland is also a popular tourist<br />
destination, just a two-hour flight from<br />
Perth. Its desert climate provides yearround<br />
hot weather, averaging ten hours<br />
of sunshine a day. The main beach front<br />
is home to a flatback sea turtle rookery,<br />
while several lookouts on the waterfront<br />
allow for viewing bottlenose dolphins<br />
and humpback whales. Estuaries<br />
support mangroves, fish and an<br />
impressive array of birds including rednecked<br />
stints, sharp-tailed sandpipers,<br />
red-necked avocets, oriental plovers,<br />
bustards, bowerbirds and finches.<br />
Port Hedland sits at the heart of<br />
a region rich in indigenous culture,<br />
which has been sensitively woven into<br />
the marina design. The ‘Staircase to<br />
the Moon’ phenomenon can be seen<br />
between March and October, when<br />
the full moon rises above the exposed<br />
mudflats at low tide, creating an optical<br />
illusion of a staircase to the moon.<br />
Nearby, more than 129km (80 miles)<br />
of pure white, undisturbed beach<br />
sand is flanked by the warm waters<br />
of the Indian Ocean. When complete,<br />
Spoilbank <strong>Marina</strong> is set to seamlessly<br />
blend these industrial and natural<br />
worlds.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
19
BOOK YOUR<br />
STAND NOW<br />
MARINA & YARD PAVILION<br />
FIRST PORT OF CALL FOR<br />
MARINA PROFESSIONALS<br />
19 - 20 - 21 NOVEMBER <strong>2024</strong><br />
RAI AMSTERDAM<br />
Step into the heart of maritime innovation at the <strong>Marina</strong> & Yard Pavilion, a central hub<br />
for marinas during METSTRADE, the largest marine equipment trade show. For over<br />
a decade, the pavilion has been the epicenter of cutting-edge marina-specific equipment,<br />
featuring everything from pontoon systems to dock fenders. Join global marina<br />
professionals at the ultimate networking for marinas. Don’t miss your chance to explore<br />
the forefront of marine technology!<br />
METSTRADE FEATURES ORGANISED BY POWERED BY MEMBER OF<br />
OFFICIAL<br />
CATALOGUE<br />
PARTNER
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
A farmers’ market at Rodney Bay <strong>Marina</strong> in<br />
St Lucia is a popular and community-based<br />
event for locals and visitors.<br />
Photo: Adam Foster<br />
Sustainable design is<br />
just “good design”<br />
By Esteban Biondi<br />
When we look at sustainability principles and how they can be applied, we<br />
can show that they are all about “good design”. Good design enhances value,<br />
reduces risk, and reduces costs at multiple time and spatial scales.<br />
Sustainability is a broad concept, but<br />
it has been over used and may not be<br />
as strong a call to awareness and a<br />
driver of change as it should be. On one<br />
hand, we are now familiar with generic<br />
statements, buzz words and fashionable<br />
declarations that only sugarcoat<br />
“business as usual”. On the other<br />
hand, regulations are evolving rapidly<br />
to impose additional requirements. But<br />
when we step back, there is significant<br />
value in applying a thorough design<br />
approach to achieve sustainability.<br />
Modern sustainable marina design is<br />
not about introducing external or foreign<br />
issues, but about rethinking design and<br />
operation more thoroughly. What used<br />
to be considered acceptable, even if<br />
not ideal, was often justified in terms<br />
of some sort of cost reduction. Now we<br />
know that we can do better. We seek<br />
more value in different dimensions,<br />
lower indirect and societal costs,<br />
and make deliberate efforts for risk<br />
reduction. These considerations now<br />
have more relevance in design.<br />
Some environmentalists rage against<br />
marinas, saying that they all cause<br />
negative environmental impacts. We<br />
must recognise that there are too<br />
many examples of marinas in pristine<br />
environments that have caused<br />
excessive and unjustified damage,<br />
which leads to this assessment. But<br />
it is also true that some locations in<br />
degraded environments will benefit from<br />
the proper development of recreation<br />
navigation infrastructure. There is<br />
arguably more total value in sustainable<br />
marinas that expand local economic<br />
activity, revitalise cultural traditions and<br />
provide ecological functions than some<br />
pure ecological restoration projects.<br />
Sustainable marina design<br />
guidelines, such as the PIANC Working<br />
Group 148 report published in 2023,<br />
now explicitly state that we should<br />
seek proactive inclusion of ecological<br />
features and identify opportunities for<br />
guest experience that provide direct<br />
benefits to the local community.<br />
Higher expectations result in some<br />
details becoming more relevant and<br />
unavoidable. Analysis is more complex<br />
and nuanced, but the result is better.<br />
Net positive environmental impacts,<br />
meaningful stakeholder engagement,<br />
resource conservation, resilience to<br />
extreme events and climate change,<br />
and reduction of greenhouse gas<br />
(GHG) emissions are now part of<br />
modern marina design.<br />
While Working with Nature<br />
emphasises following a design process,<br />
it highlights specific environmental and<br />
social issues applicable to marinas; and<br />
it also discusses climate mitigation and<br />
adaptation issues.<br />
Climate change mitigation<br />
Climate change mitigation refers to the<br />
reduction of GHG emissions, which are<br />
classified depending on the control that<br />
a company has over those emissions.<br />
Scope 1 emissions are due to the<br />
Puerto Calero in the Canary Islands<br />
has pontoon arrangements designed for<br />
variable water levels and low-impact<br />
design featuring volcanic stone and native<br />
plants. Photo: Melanie Symes<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
21
INNOVATION<br />
QUALITY<br />
COMMITMENT<br />
• Full line of hydraulic boat handling equipment<br />
• Yard, self-propelled, and highway models<br />
• Open frame design to maximize flexibility and efficiency<br />
Kropf Industrial also supplies mobile<br />
boat lifts, as well as steel or HDPE<br />
pipe floating docks, and steel floating<br />
breakwaters.<br />
www.kropfindustrial.com info@kropfindustrial.com 888.480.3777
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
activities that the company<br />
controls, scope 2 emissions<br />
are generated by the energy<br />
the company consumes,<br />
and Scope 3 are emissions<br />
by customers and suppliers.<br />
The design, development and<br />
operation of marinas all play a<br />
part in reducing emissions to<br />
mitigate climate change.<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s in certain<br />
jurisdictions that already have<br />
regulations promoting climate<br />
mitigation measures are<br />
now introducing procedures<br />
specifically designed to<br />
document, quantify and reduce<br />
Scope 1 emissions, including emissions<br />
by marina owned vehicles, generators<br />
and equipment.<br />
Scope 2 emissions are GHG<br />
emissions by power generators.<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s do not control them directly,<br />
but energy conservation reduces<br />
them. Many marinas began some time<br />
ago to evaluate their consumption of<br />
resources (water, energy, materials<br />
etc.) and to implement conservation<br />
measures. Consumption reduction<br />
results in economic and environmental<br />
sustainability benefits, but energy<br />
conservation measures also reduce<br />
Scope 2 emissions. Reduction can also<br />
be achieved by self-generation of power<br />
within the property, such as installation<br />
of solar panels.<br />
The next type of climate change<br />
mitigation actions that marinas should<br />
begin to consider are related to Scope<br />
3 emissions. These are GHG emissions<br />
by customers and suppliers. Most<br />
marinas sell fuel for recreational vessel<br />
propulsion, so this type of Scope 3<br />
emission is large and relatively easy to<br />
track.<br />
The marina industry already has<br />
companies dedicated to power charging<br />
stations and hydrogen supply for new<br />
propulsion systems. Some developers<br />
in the Middle East have established the<br />
goal that no fossil fuels will be used for<br />
mobility systems, including recreational<br />
navigation. <strong>Marina</strong>s that are considering<br />
improvements to their electrical<br />
supply systems to charge batteries of<br />
electric boats and provide fuel for new<br />
recreational vessel propulsion systems<br />
are not only responding to the market<br />
A large scale resort marina project in Los<br />
Cabos, Mexico includes a basin for local<br />
fishermen. The fishermen’s basin facilities<br />
are operated by local fishermen who offer<br />
fishing tours. Photo: E Biondi<br />
demand but setting themselves up to<br />
document impactful climate mitigation<br />
measures.<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> assets also include embodied<br />
carbon due to the emissions required<br />
for construction and maintenance. But<br />
we are much less advanced than some<br />
property sectors in accounting for those<br />
when designing new developments and<br />
expansions. Additionally, the positive<br />
contribution due to carbon capture by<br />
increasing vegetation cover is not yet<br />
accounted.<br />
Resilient design<br />
Planning, design and operation of<br />
coastal development is under scrutiny<br />
due to increasing risks that are being<br />
fuelled by climate change and poor<br />
development. Institutional property<br />
investors, the reinsurance industry and<br />
regulators are further evaluating the<br />
extra costs of storm damage. Sea level<br />
rise and changes in frequency and<br />
intensity of extreme events will only<br />
increase those risks.<br />
This appears as a challenge, since<br />
Maintaining a mangrove<br />
shoreline at the edge of a marina<br />
in Jupiter, Florida preserves<br />
the ecosystem and keeps the<br />
facility connected to its natural<br />
environment. Photo: E Biondi<br />
some of the basic assumptions<br />
of marine design throughout<br />
the history of engineering,<br />
such as the elevation of<br />
a mean sea level and the<br />
statistical analysis of extreme<br />
events, are not true for future<br />
conditions. But engineers<br />
only need to apply the same<br />
engineering principles to these<br />
new conditions, including the<br />
uncertainties that still exist.<br />
Structural resilience is a principle<br />
that underlies all engineering design<br />
standards; you don’t want catastrophic<br />
failure when design conditions are<br />
exceeded. But the project response<br />
to extreme events now needs to be<br />
evaluated more thoroughly. We can now<br />
apply resilience principles knowing that<br />
low probability actions due to maritime<br />
hydrodynamics will get worse over time.<br />
With the current understanding we have<br />
of the effects of climate change, we<br />
know that wave protection and marina<br />
edge structures will have to adapt to<br />
maintain a certain level of service. We<br />
also know that planning for adaptation<br />
must consider uncertainties but can be<br />
based on the information we do have.<br />
For example, we know that due to<br />
future sea level rise, the elevation<br />
of marina edge structures will need<br />
to be higher to avoid flooding. But it<br />
may not be reasonable to build the<br />
edge structure now at the elevation<br />
needed in one hundred years, because<br />
functionality in the short term will be<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
23
Represented in over 40 countries<br />
www.flovac.es<br />
Taking the<br />
Green approach<br />
to the Blackwater<br />
problem<br />
Vacuum sewerage systems are ideal for use in marinas<br />
and ports of any size.<br />
The Flovac system can capture sewage and bilge water<br />
from boats and all facilities around the marina complex.<br />
No electrical power required at dockside<br />
Validates MARPOL certification<br />
No risk of water contamination<br />
Suitable for boats and docks of any size<br />
Discreet, small diameter pipework<br />
Ease of installation<br />
No odour
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
compromised. So now the standard<br />
practice is that all coastal works should<br />
include a climate change adaptation<br />
strategy and plan. With the proper<br />
approach, it is not critical to know<br />
exactly when adaptation will be needed,<br />
but we can build knowing how we can<br />
adapt, while having some flexibility in<br />
the time scale.<br />
Unlike other change processes<br />
in recent engineering history,<br />
infrastructure that does not adapt will<br />
have little opportunity to be reused in<br />
the future. Many urban and recreational<br />
waterfronts in developed countries have<br />
resulted from the reconversion of aging<br />
or obsolete port areas because part of<br />
their infrastructure was reusable. But<br />
structures that cannot adapt to climate<br />
change will be more difficult to reuse.<br />
Beware of top-down<br />
frameworks<br />
In addition to the way in which climate<br />
change may transform marina design,<br />
the economic and financial effects<br />
will have a fundamental impact on<br />
waterfront property development<br />
and infrastructure for recreation<br />
and tourism navigation. Broad<br />
During the concept planning of various facilities along a 10km (6mi) stretch of waterfront<br />
at Haicang Bay, Xiamen, China, the design team observed that some local boats had<br />
been adapted to transport tourists. The proposed strategy was thus to work with the local<br />
community in planning the associated tourist marina.<br />
sustainability and climate frameworks<br />
are now being developed based on<br />
very general concepts but will drive<br />
further regulations and incentives to<br />
achieve sustainability social goals.<br />
Companies that are already evaluating<br />
their sustainability and climate risk<br />
profiles and implementing the resultant<br />
adaptation strategy may benefit from<br />
these changes. But our industry should<br />
ensure that the implementation details<br />
are appropriate.<br />
Esteban Biondi is a principal at Applied<br />
Technology & Management and is<br />
chair of the PIANC Recreational<br />
Commission.<br />
THE PONTOON COMPANY<br />
Specialist builders of marinas with<br />
more than sixty years’ experience<br />
<br />
Industry leading technical,<br />
design, manufacture and<br />
engineering capabilities<br />
<br />
<br />
commercial and leisure<br />
pontoons, access bridges<br />
Installation barges,<br />
dedicated piling<br />
<br />
<br />
T: +44 (0) 1489 579977 E: sales@walconmarine.com<br />
www.walconmarine.com<br />
Walcon Marine Benelux<br />
T: +31 (0) 38 30 30 315 E: verkoop@w2support.com<br />
www.walconmarinebenelux.com<br />
Walcon Marine Italia<br />
T: +39 (0) 532 095 884 E: info@walconmarineitalia.com<br />
www.walconmarineitalia.com<br />
Walcon Marine Australia Pty Ltd<br />
T: +61 (0) 8 9583 3982 E: marine@walconmarine.com.au<br />
www.walconmarine.com.au<br />
182x132mm_Walcon_New advert_Final.indd 1 04/04/<strong>2024</strong> 08:05<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
25
MARTINI MARINAS FLOATING PONTOONS<br />
www.martinialfredo.com<br />
MARTINI MARINAS<br />
FLOATING PONTOONS<br />
SINCE 1974<br />
A SAFE MARINAS,<br />
MANY SOLUTIONS...<br />
A UNIQUE QUALITY.<br />
QUALITY AND INNOVATION 100% MADE IN ITALY<br />
MARTINI ALFREDO S.P.A.<br />
Via Centro Industriale Europeo, 43 | 22078 Turate (CO)<br />
+39 02963941 | marinas.export@martinialfredo.it
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
Anya Freeman, CEO (left) and Charlotte<br />
Hoffman, business development lead.<br />
Life in the seawall<br />
Florida-based company Kind Designs is innovating on traditional, uninspiring<br />
concrete seawalls by installing vibrant, cost-competitive ‘Living Seawalls’ that<br />
benefit marine life and can be tailored to suit different environments. Charlotte<br />
Niemiec finds out more<br />
Seawalls haven’t changed much<br />
since they were first installed in the<br />
USA, in Galveston Bay, Texas more<br />
than 100 years ago, Kind Designs<br />
product development lead Charlotte<br />
Hoffman says. By 2050, the US<br />
construction industry is expected<br />
to have destroyed 50,000 miles<br />
(80,468km) of marine habitat by<br />
installing traditional, toxic seawalls.<br />
Kind Designs seeks to replace these<br />
seawalls with an environmentally<br />
conscious and economically scalable<br />
solution.<br />
“We are the first and only company<br />
in the world to 3D-print seawalls,” says<br />
Hoffman. “We’re disrupting coastal<br />
construction by addressing a major<br />
pain point for coastal contractors.<br />
Instead of having to make their own<br />
concrete seawall slabs, which takes<br />
a lot of labour and space, these<br />
contractors can now buy the seawall<br />
panels at a price competitive to making<br />
their own. Instead of competing with<br />
local businesses or existing contractors,<br />
we are enabling them to take on much<br />
more business.”<br />
The seawalls also help to solve<br />
marine habitat degradation. By 3Dprinting<br />
the product, the company is<br />
able to incorporate an artificial reef<br />
structure into the seawall design, which<br />
helps rejuvenate coastal ecosystems<br />
and improve water quality.<br />
Living Seawalls are plug-and-play, as<br />
the printing technology allows slabs to<br />
be customised to meet the exact design<br />
of already-permitted concrete seawall<br />
projects or integrated into the design<br />
at the start of a project. “Additionally, if<br />
you have seawalls already installed but<br />
would like the environmental benefit,<br />
we can add Living Tiles,” Hoffman says.<br />
These are independent artificial reefs<br />
that can be affixed to any seawall –<br />
steel, vinyl or concrete – made with<br />
the same non-toxic materials as the<br />
seawalls.<br />
The company installed its first Living<br />
Seawall in Miami Beach earlier this<br />
year and is now in the process of fitting<br />
12 more in the state in the next two<br />
months.<br />
Environmental benefits<br />
Living Seawalls feature an artificial reef<br />
on their facade that offers shelter and<br />
60% more surface area for sea life to<br />
A Living Seawall in the water (above) and<br />
being installed in Miami Beach earlier this<br />
year (right).<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
27
MARINA PLANNING & DESIGN<br />
attach, encouraging colonisation<br />
and the creation of a robust coastal<br />
ecosystem. Irregular ridges and<br />
textures on the wall, as a result<br />
of the 3D-printing process, act as<br />
anchoring sites, better protecting<br />
organisms from wave energy, boat<br />
wakes and storms compared to a<br />
traditional flat wall.<br />
The seawalls have been designed<br />
using biomimicry principles to<br />
imitate the natural coastal habitat<br />
in South Florida, making it suitable<br />
for native marine species. Based on<br />
where the seawalls are installed,<br />
the company can change the design<br />
to mimic the environment. Water<br />
quality sensors fitted into the walls also<br />
collect 15 parameters of essential data.<br />
Importantly, the seawalls are costcompetitive.<br />
“Part of Kind Designs’<br />
founding principle was to make sure<br />
there were economies of scale for<br />
an environmental solution,” Hoffman<br />
explains. “So many times there are<br />
green premiums for products that<br />
either don’t harm or don’t even benefit<br />
the environment, preventing them<br />
from becoming a global solution for<br />
an environmental problem. Our Living<br />
Seawalls are a cost competitive solution<br />
to traditional ones, priced at US$25-30/<br />
ft². Traditional concrete walls usually<br />
range from US$20-25 and steel sheet<br />
pile costs even more.”<br />
The seawalls are durable, too.<br />
“Concrete lasts forever – there are<br />
concrete seawalls built during the<br />
Roman Empire that are still standing<br />
today!” Hoffman says. “That being<br />
said, modern day seawalls require the<br />
use of a reinforcement bar (rebar) for<br />
added tensile strength. Rebar is the<br />
actual determining factor in the life of<br />
a concrete seawall. Concrete seawalls<br />
with steel rebar last 30-50 years, while<br />
a concrete seawall with a fibreglass<br />
rebar can double their life, or more.”<br />
Printed protection<br />
The walls are constructed using 3D<br />
printed mortar, made from 5,000psi<br />
marine-grade extrudable concrete,<br />
which is environmental product<br />
declaration (EPD) certified, pH<br />
balanced and non-toxic, using no<br />
metals, chloride or sulphates. The<br />
concrete used to fill the interior is<br />
6,000psi marine-grade ready-mix<br />
concrete. The company uses the<br />
customer’s choice of either steel,<br />
glass fibre or galvanised steel<br />
rebar, depending on the engineer’s<br />
specifications.<br />
With the fastest concrete printer<br />
in the world, extremely small layer<br />
sizes are printed using a completely<br />
autonomous robot, allowing for fast<br />
production times and seawalls with<br />
detailed designs.<br />
In the first step, the 3D shell is printed<br />
with the artificial reef design, which<br />
takes around one hour and 15 minutes.<br />
Next, the rebar cage is inserted inside<br />
the shell, which takes another hour.<br />
In another half an hour, the interior is<br />
complete. Cure time is just 48 hours,<br />
compared to the two or three weeks for<br />
traditional seawalls. The entire panel is<br />
ready for delivery within seven days of<br />
printing.<br />
The panels are then delivered to<br />
the installation site by truck or barge<br />
and can be installed by any marine<br />
contractor, with no special ‘know-how’<br />
or equipment — just a crane. They<br />
can be installed using either piles or<br />
tiebacks. For very large projects, the<br />
printing robot can even be brought on<br />
site.<br />
Tailored design<br />
The nature of 3D-printing lends itself<br />
to completely customisable designs,<br />
enabling each seawall to be unique<br />
and recognisable. “We can print a<br />
design that mimics the natural coastal<br />
environment, your marina’s logo<br />
into the wall, or even an art piece,”<br />
Hoffman says. Partnerships between<br />
Kind Designs and renowned artists<br />
are possible, and can transform<br />
waterways into public art installations<br />
on an impressive scale while protecting<br />
marine environments.<br />
“Our business model is based on<br />
franchising,” Hoffman explains. “We<br />
have international exclusivity to 3D-print<br />
seawalls with our robot partner CyBe.<br />
Our goal is to franchise nationally and<br />
internationally to replace traditional<br />
seawalls with Living Seawalls<br />
across the globe. Right now<br />
we’re working on a joint venture<br />
in the Bahamas to service<br />
the Caribbean. All licensing<br />
partners will get access to our<br />
copyrighted library of designs,<br />
and we can work on specific<br />
designs tailored to each partner<br />
location.”<br />
The company’s success<br />
owes as much to its team as<br />
to its idea. Born in Ukraine,<br />
the company’s adventurous<br />
CEO, Anya Freeman, lived in<br />
Israel, South Africa and China<br />
(Shanghai) before receiving<br />
a scholarship to study law at the<br />
University of Miami. Afterwards, she<br />
worked for the US Attorney’s Office and<br />
clerked at the US District Court before<br />
opening her own law firm, Freeman<br />
Law Group, focused on environmental<br />
policy and litigation. Inspired by firsthand<br />
experience at her flooded house<br />
in South Beach and frustrated with lack<br />
of innovation around rising sea-levels,<br />
Freeman took on the challenge of<br />
finding technological<br />
solutions to this<br />
global challenge<br />
that both supports<br />
the environment<br />
and has economies<br />
of scale. That’s<br />
when Kind Designs<br />
was born.<br />
Other team<br />
members are experts in marine<br />
construction, 3D printing, autonomous<br />
robots, software engineering,<br />
conservation and media.<br />
Living tile designs (above) and a close-up<br />
view of the seawall shell (below).<br />
28 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
COMPANY FOCUS<br />
The temporary bridge for the Redentore<br />
Festival in Venice is a stunning example<br />
of the floating structures Ingemar helps<br />
develop for events.<br />
Ingemar at 45:<br />
innovating for the<br />
bigger picture<br />
Italian marina design and build specialist Ingemar celebrates 45 years in <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> talks to founder and CEO Lorenzo Isalberti about his passion to<br />
continually ensure that infrastructure is improved and relevant, while never<br />
losing sight of the fact that marinas are for ‘people’.<br />
“From the very beginning, Ingemar’s<br />
growth has been fuelled by the<br />
desire to improve the traditional<br />
structures designed for the needs of<br />
the past, with new solutions designed<br />
for the changing expectations of<br />
modern yachting,” Isalberti says. He<br />
highlights the advantages of floating<br />
infrastructure, such as ease of layout,<br />
constant freeboard at varying tides and<br />
minimal environmental impact, and<br />
emphasises the focus Ingemar<br />
has always placed on materials.<br />
“From a production point of view,<br />
Ingemar has always favoured the<br />
use of natural and environmentally<br />
friendly materials and tropical<br />
timbers from FSC-certified forests,”<br />
he notes.<br />
Over the years, Ingemar<br />
research has developed noninvasive<br />
anchorage systems,<br />
and damping systems with special<br />
elastomers and Dynema ropes,<br />
expanded its operating facilities,<br />
established a network of licencees<br />
in the UAE, Oman and India, built<br />
ever bigger breakwaters and, most<br />
recently, launched a <strong>Marina</strong>4all range<br />
of products.<br />
What’s ongoing and in the pipeline for<br />
Ingemar – and for the industry?<br />
Q: In a bid for decarbonisation, boats<br />
– especially large yachts – will be<br />
increasingly designed to accommodate<br />
different fuel systems. How will this<br />
impact on the design of marinas and<br />
pontoon systems?<br />
A: At the moment, separate safe areas<br />
are being created on floating platforms<br />
and pontoons that are equipped with<br />
spill guards and special filter sections<br />
in the water that absorb hydrocarbon<br />
residues.<br />
In the near future, it is foreseeable<br />
that we will see a progressive<br />
development of hydrogen propulsion,<br />
which seems to be able to provide an<br />
autonomy that electric power does not<br />
currently guarantee. The difficulties to<br />
be overcome will no longer concern<br />
problems related to pollution but to the<br />
storage and safe transfer of potentially<br />
flammable and explosive elements.<br />
With this in mind, <strong>Marina</strong> Sant’Elena<br />
in Venice seeks to be a ‘pathfinder’ for<br />
the new technology and is currently<br />
collaborating with NatPower srl to install<br />
a first ‘clean’ refuelling point.<br />
Many marinas are also equipping<br />
themselves with photovoltaic systems,<br />
with projects to cover their buildings<br />
and also to cover their jetties with<br />
canopies, or even to transform their<br />
decks into photovoltaic surfaces.<br />
Q: What is the thinking behind your<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>4all products?<br />
A: <strong>Marina</strong>4all products aim to make<br />
the approach to modern ports<br />
Ingemar pontoons at <strong>Marina</strong> del<br />
Gargano, a 700-berth marina in the<br />
Italian Gulf of Manfredonia. Vessels<br />
up to 50m (164ft) in length can moor<br />
up in an environment that offers<br />
privacy as well as multiple amenities.<br />
30 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
COMPANY FOCUS<br />
Lorenzo Isalberti (wearing white<br />
waistcoast) and the Ingemar team.<br />
‘kinder’, with high safety standards<br />
and easy accessibility for everybody<br />
– for those with disabilities, but also<br />
for anyone who wishes to use the<br />
port, from the elderly or those with<br />
mobility difficulties to new mothers<br />
with bags and pushchairs and ship<br />
owners, sportsmen, craftsmen, service<br />
personnel, etc.<br />
In addition to special and often<br />
technically complex solutions, such as<br />
reduced distance between the water<br />
level and the walking surface, the<br />
minimal slope of the connecting ramps,<br />
and attention to the sufficient width<br />
of walkways to ensure comfortable<br />
manoeuvring spaces, the new<br />
structures are equipped from the start<br />
with special provisions for auxiliary<br />
protection and support systems (cranes<br />
for lifting people and other devices),<br />
as well as original patented surfacing<br />
sections that absorb the oily residues<br />
suspended in the waters of the host<br />
basins.<br />
The first <strong>Marina</strong>4all prototypes<br />
were launched in 2023 at the Venice<br />
and Genoa Boat Shows and used by<br />
disabled sailor Marco Rossato as the<br />
starting and arrival bases for his Tour<br />
of Italy by Sail “Navigating Beyond<br />
Limits”. He visited 45 Italian ports in 99<br />
days of navigation and covered over<br />
A destination marina in the Gulf of<br />
Naples, <strong>Marina</strong> di Stabia’s Ingemar<br />
pontoons deliver 789 berths. The largest of<br />
megayachts can be accommodated due to<br />
deep waters.<br />
1,700 miles aboard ‘Tornavento’ to<br />
“photograph” the accessibility of Italian<br />
boating facilities and to urge operators<br />
and the public to pay more attention to<br />
it.<br />
At the design level, the next<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>4all facilities will also include<br />
new elements designed to overcome<br />
other forms of access barriers, invisible<br />
to those who can see, but unfortunately<br />
penalising those who are visually<br />
impaired or blind. They will include<br />
dedicated experimentation areas, tactile<br />
paths, contrasting colours and Braille<br />
signs.<br />
Q: Can further progress be made with<br />
new materials and techniques? If so,<br />
what is currently under discussion and<br />
what can be foreseen?<br />
A: There are many areas where action<br />
can be taken today to improve the<br />
performance and quality of modern<br />
marinas. The most likely development<br />
hypotheses take into consideration the<br />
new possibilities offered by research<br />
into advanced technologies and<br />
innovative materials. These include: the<br />
increasingly important use of recycled<br />
elements and photovoltaic surfaces<br />
for the construction of roofs and the<br />
decks themselves; anchoring systems<br />
equipped with special attenuators<br />
able to generate energy from water<br />
movement; and the process of<br />
digitising services that will soon<br />
include software and sensors to<br />
monitor areas and routes and<br />
facilitate all manoeuvres in port.<br />
Q: Do you see marinas using more<br />
water space for floating structures<br />
in order to make better use of land<br />
space or overcome the lack of<br />
space on land?<br />
A: Available space is and will be<br />
increasingly limited and crowded.<br />
This means that marinas must<br />
be increasingly open to the city,<br />
allowing non-boaters to enjoy<br />
some of the marina’s services,<br />
and solutions to optimise logistics<br />
and hospitality are multiplying:<br />
car parking built inside floating<br />
breakwaters; platforms for services<br />
and exhibitions; club houses<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
31
Mega Tango by<br />
Mega Tango by<br />
There’s a whole new<br />
global audience out there<br />
Mega Tango by
COMPANY FOCUS<br />
becoming sports centres; and even<br />
the new trend of building floating<br />
houses inside marinas to improve<br />
their reception and accommodation<br />
offerings.<br />
Q: Have you recently built floating<br />
structures specifically for marinas?<br />
A: Since most of Ingemar’s installations<br />
are tailor-made, there are many<br />
significant structures in terms of design<br />
features and dimensions. Examples<br />
include those in the Gulf of La Spezia,<br />
an open-air showcase of the most<br />
diverse Ingemar creations, and the<br />
service platforms for the four marinas<br />
built in LaAla Al Kuwait for a new<br />
city risen from the desert. In Lignano<br />
we built connecting pontoons for<br />
houseboats in a floating resort; we built<br />
the floating office and service centre<br />
for the regional port of Locarno; and<br />
the floating headquarters of the Tevere<br />
Remo rowing centre in Rome.<br />
Q: What will be the design and<br />
construction principles for marinas<br />
in the coming decades?<br />
A: The shortage of new water space<br />
for pleasure boating leads us to<br />
look more and more insistently at<br />
solutions that, on the one hand will<br />
seek to expand existing marinas<br />
with the addition of new protective<br />
breakwaters and the construction<br />
of automated shore shelters to<br />
free the basins from small boats,<br />
and on the other will contemplate<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> di Valetta in Malta has been<br />
designed to maximise mooring for<br />
different kinds of vessels within a<br />
sensitive and historically<br />
rich environment.<br />
major projects for the reconversion of<br />
degraded areas or disused industrial<br />
settlements to transform them into<br />
drivers of tourism and territorial<br />
development.<br />
The most recent examples of<br />
reclamation and restitution to the<br />
community of water areas equipped<br />
with Ingemar floating structures can<br />
be seen in Italy. For example, in<br />
Castellammare di Stabia or Piombino,<br />
where new large boat marinas have<br />
sprung up on the ashes of the old<br />
local steel industry, and at the old port<br />
of Genoa as part of Renzo Piano’s<br />
waterfront regeneration project.<br />
Q: What we should do and what<br />
should we not do?<br />
A: The model inspiring modern marinas<br />
has profoundly changed from the<br />
original concept of ‘sheltering and<br />
parking’ for boats.<br />
The Ingemar marina at the annual Genoa<br />
Boat Show is one of the company’s most<br />
famous references.<br />
Today’s marinas respond more to the<br />
idea of a large hub that centralises and<br />
provides different services, i.e. a place<br />
to go to for a water-related experience.<br />
This is why, as in other sectors, it<br />
would be desirable to spread ‘boatsharing’<br />
and all-inclusive short-term<br />
rental practices, from small boats to<br />
maxi-yachts.<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s must become the water<br />
gateway to the host city, attracting the<br />
population to experience the sea, not<br />
just admire it. Therefore, in addition<br />
to enjoying the services present,<br />
such as shops, bars and restaurants,<br />
people should be able to enjoy the<br />
sea and water sports, such as sailing,<br />
rowing, diving, sport fishing and so<br />
on. <strong>Marina</strong>s should be able to attract<br />
and entice people to experience the<br />
sea, spreading the culture of the sea,<br />
respect for the sea, the beauty of the<br />
sea.<br />
As mentioned, it will be interesting to<br />
place new land spaces next to ‘classic’<br />
marinas, where new dry marinas will<br />
be built, offering a launching service for<br />
smaller boats with automated or on-call<br />
systems.<br />
In the traditional marinas, meanwhile,<br />
associations and sports clubs will<br />
continue to be able to find space, but<br />
will have shared facilities to provide<br />
new experiences to a wider public, not<br />
necessarily made up of boat owners.<br />
Equipped floating structures will<br />
also gain more and more space in the<br />
future, due to the ease with which port<br />
layouts can be reconfigured according<br />
to size of boat and market demands.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
33
MARINA GROUPS<br />
Left: <strong>Marina</strong> di Vieste, at the extreme edge<br />
of the Gargano promontory, is perfectly<br />
positioned for access to the Croatian,<br />
Greek and Albanian coasts.<br />
Renato Marconi, CEO and founder of<br />
Marinedi Group.<br />
Sustainability goals<br />
across the network<br />
Following an ambitious path to protect the environment, and utilising Artificial<br />
Intelligence (AI) to foster its sustainability goals, Italy-based Marinedi Group is<br />
racking up an impressive influence in the European marina sector. Donatella<br />
Zucca reports<br />
Marinedi is the first private marina<br />
network in the Mediterranean and<br />
a leader in the development and<br />
management of tourist ports. With<br />
6,000 berths, 15 operational entities<br />
and a fivefold increase in its EBITDA<br />
valuation in just five years, its rising<br />
success is obvious.<br />
Since its foundation at the end<br />
of 2012, Marinedi has always been<br />
eco-friendly, primarily choosing to<br />
rejuvenate abandoned sites rather<br />
than create new ones. Today, the<br />
group aspires to be an environmental<br />
ambassador, especially for countries<br />
where sensitivity to environmental<br />
issues is poor or non-existent.<br />
Marinedi’s journey has been supported<br />
by its membership of Assonat (National<br />
Association of Tourist Landings &<br />
Ports) which actively promotes nautical<br />
tourism, its activity in the maritime<br />
economy with FEE Italia via its Blue<br />
Flag awards, and its inclusion in the<br />
European group Cooperation Odyssey.<br />
The group has been at the forefront<br />
in the fight to defend the tourist port<br />
industry, and emphasise its crucial<br />
importance to Italy as a country, by<br />
engaging in continuous dialogue with<br />
the Italian Government and various<br />
institutions. In February of this year,<br />
it took part in the ‘General States of<br />
Italian Tourist Ports’ meeting organised<br />
by Assonat-Confcommercio and<br />
Assonautica Italiana-Unioncamere<br />
on the 2025-2027 strategic plan for<br />
Italian tourist ports. On this occasion,<br />
Nello Musumeci, the Minister of Civil<br />
Protection & Sea Policies, invited<br />
Renato Marconi, founder and CEO of<br />
Marinedi, to assist the Government in<br />
analysing the principal needs of those<br />
who manage tourist ports and defining<br />
appropriate objectives.<br />
Thanks to tourism and boating –<br />
‘Made in Italy’ excellences – nautical<br />
tourism is a crucial part of the country’s<br />
nautical industry economy, which<br />
has a €7 billion annual turnover.<br />
Growth is continuous, especially<br />
with the expansion of the Blue<br />
Economy, which includes the use<br />
of new technologies and AI. The<br />
establishment of the Blue <strong>Marina</strong><br />
Awards for green marinas, tourist<br />
ports and landing places, promoted<br />
by Assonautica Italiana-Unioncamere<br />
and Assonat-Confcommercio, bears<br />
witness to this in addition to being<br />
a model of collaboration in the<br />
sustainable development goals of<br />
the United Nations and in the blue<br />
economy objectives of the European<br />
Commission.<br />
Aware of the importance of<br />
harmonising its expansion with the<br />
environment, Marinedi aims to transform<br />
each construction and management<br />
project into a hotbed of ideas and<br />
technologies for the benefit of land<br />
and sea. “In <strong>Marina</strong> dei Presidi in Porto<br />
Ercole and in marinas in Cagliari,<br />
Procida and Vieste, we have positioned<br />
Seabin floating baskets to capture<br />
microplastics and other residues,”<br />
explains Renato Marconi. “In the marina<br />
in Villasimius, we’ve tested a drone that<br />
moves on the surface of the water to<br />
capture waste and floating substances,<br />
as well as an underwater drone that<br />
34 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
MARINA GROUPS<br />
An ideal starting point for exploring the<br />
Tuscan Archipelago, <strong>Marina</strong> dei Presidi<br />
Porto Ercole is a popular destination,<br />
especially in the summer.<br />
identifies and captures waste on the<br />
seabed, and a 100kg [220lb] transcollector<br />
that can be positioned on<br />
fixed and mobile docks.”<br />
Further to this, Marinedi has<br />
entered into a partnership with<br />
Aqua superPower for installation of<br />
marine rapid charge electric charge<br />
points, the first of which is now<br />
at Brindisi <strong>Marina</strong> offering 22kW<br />
AC and 150kW DC for leisure and<br />
commercial vessels.<br />
“Throughout the network we urge<br />
the use of paints and antifouling<br />
systems that have the lowest possible<br />
impact on the ecosystem, products that<br />
reduce the presence of biocides and<br />
the use of antifouling films that are free<br />
of pollutants,” Marconi adds.<br />
In 2022 Marinedi joined the Pick<br />
a Pier digital platform, which had<br />
already partnered with TransEurope<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s, the largest European marina<br />
network with over 75 marinas and<br />
around 45,000 berths. Together, Pick<br />
a Pier and TransEurope committed to<br />
sustainable growth of the sector and its<br />
standards of innovation and services.<br />
Pick a Pier, formed in 2017 by<br />
Idan Cohen and his brother Asaf<br />
as a start-up, focuses on utilising<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> di Villasimius has 840 berths<br />
and numerous facilities and amenities.<br />
machine learning and AI to design<br />
a technological future for the marina<br />
industry that is capable of reinventing<br />
the nautical experience.<br />
The first objective has been to<br />
synergistically combine the needs<br />
of efficiency, profitability and<br />
sustainability by connecting marinas,<br />
boaters, government agencies and<br />
organisations with support from global<br />
partners. By collecting and analysing<br />
real-time data using powerful and<br />
intuitive software, an AI-enabled system<br />
is being created by and for the nautical<br />
industry. A team of engineers, product<br />
designers, data scientists, revenue<br />
management specialists, operational<br />
experts, and more, work within the Pick<br />
a Pier team.<br />
Partnerships and memberships<br />
are crucial to Marinedi’s quest to<br />
progress in line with its precise policies.<br />
Being part of Assonat is particularly<br />
important. “It represents the opportunity<br />
to contribute to re-launching tourism<br />
and boating, the principal excellence<br />
of ‘Made in Italy’ and, more generally,<br />
to the sea economy. Furthermore,<br />
we can explain the major needs of<br />
those who manage tourist ports to<br />
the Government and help define the<br />
objectives we need to work towards.<br />
With Assonat, we are taking action<br />
to shed light on the rules of state<br />
concessions and the tax rules that<br />
apply to the sector,” says Marconi.<br />
Education plays a key role right down<br />
to school level. “In various ports within<br />
the network, for example, <strong>Marina</strong> di<br />
Porto San Giorgio, we have organised<br />
educational workshops at local<br />
schools, aimed at raising awareness<br />
of the port area, delving into issues<br />
related to maritime civilisation and<br />
with the intervention of people who<br />
bring their own testimonies. These<br />
are free activities, driven by a desire<br />
to strengthen the idea of a ‘heritage<br />
community’. Where possible, we<br />
promote schoolwork initiatives aimed<br />
at making ports nurseries for modern<br />
yachting professionals. Also in Policoro,<br />
Procida and Balestrate activities<br />
are promoted by the local nautical<br />
institutes.”<br />
Marconi would be the first to agree<br />
that fuel and energy systems are<br />
amongst the most talked about topics<br />
industry-wide and are of particular<br />
importance to Marinedi as part of its<br />
role as an environmental ambassador.<br />
“In September 2023, we started a<br />
five-year autonomous energy supply<br />
programme, which plans to make the<br />
network tourist ports more sustainable<br />
by exploiting renewable, clean and<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
35
MARINA GROUPS<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> di Procida offers moorings on a<br />
Tyrrhenian island that is renowned for<br />
natural beauty and close to one of the most<br />
important colonies of dolphins<br />
in the Mediterranean.<br />
self-produced energy sources. The<br />
aim is to reduce combustion pollutants<br />
and climate-changing emissions. The<br />
programme includes interventions on<br />
the energy efficiency of port buildings<br />
and public lighting systems, the use<br />
of electric means of transport, the<br />
reduction of emissions from boats<br />
at the dock and the creation of<br />
infrastructure for the use of electricity.”<br />
“The autonomous energy supply<br />
programme began by diagnosing<br />
the energy use at each marina in the<br />
network. The opportunity to create<br />
an energy community that extends<br />
to neighbouring manufacturing and<br />
commercial structures, and port<br />
infrastructure, will then be studied.<br />
We carry out analytics at each port to<br />
identify the actions needed in order<br />
to achieve energy autonomy across<br />
our entire network within the five-year<br />
timeframe.”<br />
Enhanced efficiency and<br />
environmental benefits have,<br />
meanwhile, accrued from Marinedi’s<br />
association with Pick a Pier. “Joining the<br />
Pick a Pier platform to connect boaters<br />
and marinas has guaranteed an easy<br />
and fast service. As an example, the<br />
platform’s inclusive payment simplifies<br />
the lives of both boaters and staff,”<br />
Marconi notes. “From an environmental<br />
point of view, the results have been<br />
achieved via Pick a Pier’s Popeye<br />
Sailing Club [created in collaboration<br />
with Blue Flag]. This allows boaters<br />
(by signing up for free) to earn points<br />
and discounts for each vacancy they<br />
report to the ports, making navigation<br />
more accessible, convenient and<br />
sustainable.”<br />
Marinedi is strengthening its<br />
collaboration with Pick a Pier in <strong>2024</strong><br />
and implementing some of its latest<br />
features that help eliminate repetitive<br />
tasks and financial errors while<br />
enhancing customer satisfaction.<br />
+61 7 5594 8200<br />
info@superiorjetties.com<br />
www.superiorjetties.com<br />
The Boatworks, Gold Coast, Australia<br />
<strong>World</strong> Class <strong>Marina</strong>s | Custom design to suit requirements<br />
From vision to delivery.<br />
Increase your opportunities to<br />
utilize the marina ®<br />
Take your<br />
marina to the next level – our<br />
<br />
from idea to reality.<br />
<br />
36 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
The next Florida superyacht marina?<br />
A very rare opportunity to create a new superyacht marina in Stuart, South Florida has come to market via CBRE Capital<br />
Markets.<br />
The offering includes two vacant<br />
parcels totalling 11.4 acres (4.6ha),<br />
comprising 3.7 acres of upland and<br />
7.7 acres of deeded submerged land.<br />
There is a potential to expand the<br />
existing marina basin to 15.3 acres<br />
(6.2ha) with a state submerged land<br />
lease. The property can accommodate<br />
yachts up to 200ft (61m) in length with<br />
its basin depths of up to 17ft (5.2m).<br />
Proposed designs have been drawn<br />
up by Cummins Cederberg Engineers<br />
to conform with existing zoning and<br />
regulations. The plan showcases<br />
the potential for development of a<br />
superyacht marina within the fee simple<br />
area, as well as in an expansion area<br />
that is subject to the submerged land<br />
lease. Renditions have been developed<br />
for different configurations for 92 to 157<br />
slips and a 256ft (78m) dedicated fuel<br />
dock.<br />
“It is one of the only superyacht<br />
development opportunities in South<br />
Florida,” Julie Fisher Berry, senior<br />
vice president CBRE Capital Markets,<br />
tells <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong>. “The depths in and<br />
around the property can accommodate<br />
large yachts, which is unusual. With<br />
New owners<br />
for Ozarks<br />
resort<br />
Simply <strong>Marina</strong>s, in partnership with<br />
Graymeadow LLC, has successfully<br />
brokered the sale of an iconic<br />
destination property on Lake of the<br />
Ozarks in Missouri, USA.<br />
Coconuts <strong>Marina</strong> and RV Park and<br />
its associated vacation rentals, beach<br />
bar and grill are of a scale rarely seen<br />
in a major hospitality and marina<br />
destination. Lake of the Ozarks, a<br />
manmade reservoir, is the most popular<br />
lake destination in Missouri offering<br />
1,100 miles of shoreline. Visitors enjoy<br />
multiple public beaches, swimming,<br />
watersports and fishing.<br />
Coconuts includes an RV resort with<br />
space for over 200 vehicles and first<br />
the shortage of slips for larger vessels<br />
in South Florida and everywhere, our<br />
Stuart development opportunity is<br />
positioned to be a stunning marina<br />
with land to develop amenities and<br />
concierge services. Stuart is also<br />
exploding with affluent residential<br />
homes.”<br />
Senior associate Sheila Roux adds:<br />
“A new Brightline station has been<br />
class amenities. Boaters moor up in a<br />
163-slip marina and PWC owners have<br />
access to 21 dedicated PWC slips.<br />
There is room for further expansion.<br />
There are multiple short-term<br />
vacation rental residences and a<br />
massive destination bar and restaurant<br />
concept with various swimming pools.<br />
BUYING & SELLING MARINAS<br />
approved for Stuart as well, coming in<br />
2026, and is within walking distance<br />
of the property. This aligns quite nicely<br />
with the timing of a new development.”<br />
The rail service will give quick and<br />
convenient connections to Orlando,<br />
West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and<br />
Miami.<br />
Enquiries to: julie.berry@cbre.com or<br />
sheila.roux@cbre.com<br />
The Simply <strong>Marina</strong>s team facilitated<br />
the sale after a detailed and complex<br />
due diligence process by a group<br />
buyer, and the sale was conducted<br />
via a confidential sale process. Simply<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s and Real Capital Markets<br />
reached out to global pre-qualified<br />
buyers.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
37
If it’s on water<br />
we have a solution<br />
Cascais, PORTUGAL<br />
+351 214 692 024<br />
Barcelona, SPAIN<br />
+34 933 601 101<br />
Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL<br />
+55 21 3942 8828<br />
Vigo, SPAIN<br />
+34 986 906 770<br />
w w w . l i n d l e y . p t<br />
Float in Profits with Aqua Lodge.<br />
Utilize dead water space<br />
Higher return on slips<br />
Built to USCG specifications<br />
Very high occupancy rates<br />
Call now to maximize your marina!<br />
catamarancruiser.com / 800.365.1255
BUYING & SELLING MARINAS<br />
Suntex boosts<br />
northeast portfolio<br />
Suntex <strong>Marina</strong> Investors has added to its northeast portfolio with the<br />
acquisition of Lighthouse Point <strong>Marina</strong> & Yacht Club in Toms River, New Jersey.<br />
One of the premier full-service<br />
marinas located along the scenic Toms<br />
River, Lighthouse Point offers 243 wet<br />
slips and 38 jetski slips, each with<br />
access to electricity, water, cable and<br />
Wi-Fi. Located within a fully protected<br />
natural breakwater on the river, which<br />
leads into Barnegat Bay, it is also one<br />
of the most luxurious on the Jersey<br />
Shore, with amenities including a fullservice<br />
boat yard with haul and launch<br />
capabilities, winterisation services,<br />
easily accessible customer amenities<br />
of bathrooms and showers, laundry<br />
facilities, a pool with lounges and<br />
cabanas, a games room, snack bar,<br />
pump-out stations and a store.<br />
“Expanding our offerings in the<br />
beautiful and iconic Jersey Shore<br />
area is a long-term goal of ours, and<br />
Lighthouse Point is a perfect addition<br />
for our portfolio in that region,” said<br />
Sam Chavers, senior vice president of<br />
coastal operations, Suntex <strong>Marina</strong>s.<br />
“This is a high-demand marina<br />
with a very loyal customer base and<br />
every possible amenity, located in a<br />
vibrant waterfront community that is<br />
a destination hotspot for locals and<br />
tourists alike. We believe that Suntex<br />
can elevate Lighthouse Point and<br />
provide even more for guests and the<br />
surrounding population.”<br />
Suntex is the largest recreational<br />
marina owner in the USA in terms of<br />
marina count and boat slips.<br />
Port Dinorwic sold to local consortium<br />
Specialist leisure property adviser, Christie & Co, has brokered the sale of Port Dinorwic <strong>Marina</strong> on behalf of Azets,<br />
which has been dealing with the administration of Port Dinorwic <strong>Marina</strong> Limited. The marina has been sold to The<br />
Waterside Consortium, a newly formed company of local investors.<br />
The picturesque Port Dinorwic<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>, which dates back to 1763, was<br />
previously operated by The Marine and<br />
Property Group and offers year-round<br />
cruising in the Menai Strait, which<br />
separates North Wales and Anglesey.<br />
Simon Monks, restructuring partner<br />
at Azets and joint administrator,<br />
commented: “Whilst Port Dinorwic<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> has had its challenges<br />
in recent years, its sale out of<br />
administration to a new owner/operator<br />
will enable the necessary investment<br />
to create a thriving marina that staff,<br />
berth holders and local community can<br />
be proud of. I wish the new owners<br />
every success in operating the marina<br />
going forward.”<br />
Jon Patrick, head of leisure and<br />
development at Christie & Co,<br />
concluded: “Considerable interest<br />
in Port Dinorwic resulted in multiple<br />
offers for the business being received,<br />
a number from owners of holiday<br />
park businesses in and around the<br />
northwest, as well as community-based<br />
investors, lifestyle buyers and multi-site<br />
marina operators. We saw a marked<br />
increase in marina and marine related<br />
advisory work throughout 2023, with<br />
further new marina instructions already<br />
confirmed in Q1 <strong>2024</strong>.”<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
39
BUYING & SELLING MARINAS<br />
MDL buys prime waterfront plot<br />
UK-based MDL <strong>Marina</strong>s Group has purchased a 3.2-acre (1.3ha) plot in Southampton, Hampshire that offers key<br />
expansion opportunities for its Shamrock Quay <strong>Marina</strong> (below).<br />
The newly purchased acreage,<br />
with prime waterfront and deep-water<br />
access, represents a highly strategic<br />
acquisition, enabling MDL to expand<br />
operations across both its Shamrock<br />
Quay and nearby Saxon Wharf<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> over time, giving both shortterm<br />
and long-term development<br />
opportunities to extend the services<br />
on offer to its berth holders, visitors<br />
and other marina businesses.<br />
Opportunities could include the<br />
expansion of MDL’s drystack services,<br />
boat storage and car parking, as well<br />
as enhanced superyacht berthing and<br />
expanded boat manufacturing facilities.<br />
The land, officially designated as<br />
Millstone Point, is currently owned and<br />
operated by Oil Spill Response and<br />
incorporates a vast building with offices,<br />
which MDL plans to rent out to tenants<br />
looking for prime office space within a<br />
marina setting.<br />
“Today marks a pivotal moment for<br />
MDL <strong>Marina</strong>s as we proudly unveil<br />
our latest expansion in Southampton<br />
waters,” said MDL <strong>Marina</strong>s managing<br />
director Michael Glanville. “With the<br />
acquisition of the 3.2-acre plot, we’re<br />
not only securing prime waterfront<br />
real estate but also reaffirming our<br />
long-term commitment to growth and<br />
innovation.”<br />
“This strategic move positions<br />
Shamrock Quay to become one of the<br />
UK’s largest trading boatyards,<br />
demonstrating our dedication<br />
in serving the boating<br />
community with excellence,<br />
offering unparalleled facilities<br />
and services to all our marina<br />
customers,” he added.<br />
Situated in the heart of<br />
the River Itchen, with the<br />
backdrop of Chessel Bay<br />
providing scenic overwater<br />
views, MDL’s Shamrock Quay<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> offers the perfect blend<br />
of sheltered waters and access<br />
to world-class sailing conditions, with<br />
the bustling city of Southampton<br />
conveniently located a short distance<br />
away.<br />
Steeped in history, the 255-berth<br />
marina offers excellent services and<br />
facilities, including refit and boat<br />
building, specialist marine trades and a<br />
70m (230ft) superyacht berth, as well<br />
as a popular bar and restaurant.<br />
The Wind Behind Your Sale<br />
SIMPLY MARINAS<br />
$380MM+ IN RECENT MARINA TRANSACTIONS<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
As trusted independent marina brokerage, we work for you.<br />
Learn about our seller-friendly programs<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
40 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
WIGGINS<br />
MARINA<br />
BULL<br />
CUSTOM DESIGN<br />
BUILT TO LAST<br />
EASY MAINTENANCE<br />
+1 (805) 485-7821 wigginslift@wigginslift.com<br />
www.wigginslift.com<br />
SaniSailor<br />
Leak Proof Design<br />
THE BIGGEST FLOATING PONTOON<br />
MANUFACTURER IN ASIA<br />
><br />
NEW<br />
Early Warning<br />
Maintenance Alert<br />
Most Reliable Sanitation<br />
Pump-Out Systems<br />
www.livartmarine.net<br />
livart@livartmarine.net<br />
www.bestmarinepumps.com<br />
call- 1- 800- 355- 7867
BUYING & SELLING MARINAS<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> market insights<br />
Steven Ekovich, executive managing director and partner of Leisure<br />
Investment Properties Group (LIPG), looks at how the marina market<br />
performed in the USA in <strong>2024</strong> and how it’s panning out this year.<br />
The boating market has charted a<br />
course of remarkable growth in recent<br />
years, and this trajectory showed no<br />
signs of slowing in 2023, with continued<br />
momentum expected to carry into <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
Finite storage options, together<br />
with technological advancements and<br />
innovative boat designs, have propelled<br />
a surge in demand for recreational<br />
boats.<br />
Notably, the allure of boats exceeding<br />
25ft (7.6m) has bolstered the necessity<br />
for public storage amplifying the demand<br />
for wet slips and drystack options.<br />
A recap of 2023<br />
In 2023, the US marina industry<br />
reported robust revenue of $6.7<br />
billion, marking a 1.1% increase<br />
from the preceding year. However,<br />
amidst a narrowing spread between<br />
debt costs and marina cap rates,<br />
caution looms as this disparity may<br />
deepen the chasm between buyers<br />
and sellers. Despite these challenges,<br />
the industry fundamentals remain<br />
robust, underpinning operations amidst<br />
macroeconomic shifts.<br />
Investment activity slowed but both<br />
the median and average sales prices<br />
for marinas were up. Buyers acquiring<br />
without leverage were still buying, but<br />
the sky-high interest rates caused<br />
severe disruptions for investors needing<br />
financing.<br />
Boat sales and slip<br />
occupancy<br />
The boating market and industry have<br />
seen significant growth in recent years,<br />
and this trend is expected to continue<br />
in <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
Boat sales have slowed to a<br />
pre-pandemic level, yet there is a<br />
significantly higher number of boaters<br />
today than pre-pandemic, and the<br />
overall age of boaters has shifted<br />
towards younger generations.<br />
Interestingly, the usual trend during<br />
economic paradigm shifts is to see<br />
the larger yacht segment cool off first,<br />
followed by a slowdown in the smaller<br />
yacht segment. However, the current<br />
situation is the opposite. This can be<br />
attributed to the rise in interest rates<br />
and inflation, which have impacted the<br />
affordability of smaller yachts. Despite<br />
these challenges, there is still hope for<br />
strong activity in the market. The larger<br />
market segment is actively engaged<br />
in both acquiring and selling yachts,<br />
and the inventory of available yachts<br />
remains scarce, as reported by a<br />
number of yacht brokers in 2023.<br />
Rental rates (slip and drystack)<br />
growth has benefited from full<br />
occupancies and extensive waiting<br />
lists – demand indicators that are still<br />
strong through Q1 <strong>2024</strong>, and which<br />
we expect to remain strong throughout<br />
the year. We continue to see marinas<br />
in suburban and rural markets benefit<br />
from net migration out of major<br />
metropolitan areas to the southeast,<br />
a shift that was initially driven by the<br />
COVID-19 pandemic and the ability to<br />
work remotely.<br />
Rental boats<br />
Dockmaster states the boating rental<br />
trend continues expanding as more<br />
individuals continue to rent boats for<br />
their boating needs – be it fishing boats,<br />
yachts or other kinds of watercraft.<br />
Boats up to 28ft (8.5m) are among<br />
the most sought-after rental options,<br />
and boats between 28ft and 45ft<br />
(13.7m) are also in high demand.<br />
However, the market for boats longer<br />
than 45ft is limited. Tours, charter<br />
rentals and day cruise rentals are also<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
43
COMPOSITE DECKING & BUMPERS<br />
MORE THAN<br />
250.000m²<br />
INSTALLED!<br />
High Impact Resistance<br />
Customizable Profiles<br />
Easy Maintenance<br />
Weatherproff<br />
Twinwood®<br />
95% Recycled | 100% Recyclable<br />
Excellent OIT*<br />
Oxidative Induction Time<br />
TWINWOOD® Trademark of CJ PLAST Portugal | Tel:. +351 256 880 470 | geral@cjplast.pt
BUYING & SELLING MARINAS<br />
The full version of this marina<br />
market insights article can be read<br />
in Leisure Investment Properties<br />
Group’s <strong>Marina</strong> Investment Report<br />
<strong>2024</strong>. Other articles focus on<br />
capital markets, interviews with<br />
four market experts on the state<br />
of the insurance market, buyer<br />
sentiment, and transactions in the<br />
US$1 to 10 million tranche.<br />
Download the Report for free at<br />
www.thelipg.com<br />
widely available. Rental has fantastic<br />
potential as the market expands and,<br />
by 2028, it is expected to surpass<br />
$280.2 million in size.<br />
Boat rental companies provide a<br />
stable income for slips at a marina with<br />
extra space. They are better tenants<br />
than individuals as they tend to be<br />
better financed and, as a result of<br />
renting multiple slips, they don’t want to<br />
lose their space in a marina so they pay<br />
on time.<br />
The supply side<br />
According to IBIS<strong>World</strong>, there are<br />
approximately 10,445 marinas in use<br />
in the United States. This inventory<br />
is not materially increasing but new<br />
projects are coming online with decent<br />
consistency. We also see marina<br />
expansions as a common value-added<br />
component.<br />
The “supply” takeaway is that<br />
marinas are not like other commercial<br />
real estate, which can be easily<br />
developed with the right site, proper<br />
zoning and capital. There are<br />
expansion opportunities, but there<br />
are still barriers to entry for new<br />
marinas. This can be an advantage<br />
or disadvantage depending on who<br />
you ask (marina owner, boat owner,<br />
investor, government, etc.), but marina<br />
valuations are positively impacted by<br />
limited supply (and a low probability<br />
of new supply) since demand and rate<br />
growth for existing storage space is<br />
high.<br />
On the other hand, low-demand<br />
locations with ample supply are more<br />
prone to vacancies – not necessarily<br />
due to property-specific causes, but<br />
a factor of the location and boating<br />
market. We carefully assess those<br />
factors with each asset our team<br />
works on because there are always<br />
opportunities to improve operations,<br />
change the business model, and/or add<br />
value by building on the uplands, e.g.<br />
building a drystack, adding a restaurant<br />
or apartments, etc.<br />
Investment activity<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> sales data is dynamic as recent<br />
sales become public, are recorded, or<br />
are identified with a price. Based on the<br />
most current available data recorded<br />
for 2023 sales, transaction volume<br />
was down while both the median and<br />
average sale price were up from 2022.<br />
The average price was up slightly from<br />
$4,468,685 to $4,493,488 an increase<br />
of 0.5%, while total recorded sales<br />
between $1-20 million declined from<br />
129 in 2022, to 78 in 2023. The median<br />
sales price in 2023 was $3,185,000 up<br />
from the 2022 median of $2,750,000,<br />
a whopping increase of 15.56%!<br />
The median price is considered a<br />
better statistical measure of trending<br />
value because the average is easily<br />
influenced when a large quantity of<br />
lower or higher-priced sales exists in<br />
the data set. Further analysis of the<br />
intermediate subset ($1-10 million<br />
range) provides insights into where<br />
marinas traded in 2023, and the result<br />
points to the higher range with fewer<br />
overall sales.<br />
Market forecast for <strong>2024</strong><br />
After looking at all the demand<br />
drivers, marina inventory levels,<br />
macroeconomic factors, transaction<br />
data and impact from natural disasters,<br />
we have a cautious yet optimistic<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
45
To be seen in the world of marinas,<br />
you need to be seen in <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> …<br />
Contact Julia Hallam +44 (0)1621 855 890<br />
juliahallam@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
SEE YOU AT MARINAS24<br />
Booth 13
outlook for <strong>2024</strong>. We<br />
believe transactions will<br />
continue at a healthy<br />
pace as fundamentals<br />
remain strong. Sellers<br />
and buyers must<br />
be cognisant of the<br />
changing environment<br />
so appropriate<br />
expectations can be set:<br />
To be seen in the world of marinas,<br />
you need to be seen in <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> …<br />
• With financially<br />
healthy marinas,<br />
increasing occupancy<br />
and Contact strong support Julia Hallam for +44 (0)1621 855 890<br />
increasing juliahallam@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
slip/rack<br />
rates, we believe the<br />
asset class remains<br />
a great alternative<br />
investment for both<br />
private clients and larger, institutional<br />
investment companies.<br />
• We expect to see more owners<br />
continue holding their asset(s) when<br />
physically able (and desiring) to<br />
continue operating. Cash flows may<br />
stagnate in some areas, but the<br />
fundamentals are extraordinarily<br />
strong around the country and lead to<br />
excellent income for owners.<br />
• With inflation seeming to stall<br />
and hopefully fall by the end of <strong>2024</strong>,<br />
interest rates should come down<br />
providing easier access to credit for<br />
marina investors.<br />
• Consolidation is expected to<br />
continue by institutional investment<br />
companies, with excellent opportunities<br />
for stabilised and value-added marinas<br />
around the country.<br />
BUYING & SELLING MARINAS<br />
• Boat sales are normalising<br />
to pre-pandemic levels. 95% of<br />
boats sold in the US are under<br />
26ft (10m) – a demographic<br />
more likely to finance the<br />
purchase, and therefore more<br />
sensitive to rising interest<br />
rates, so smaller boat sales<br />
should pick up in the second<br />
half of the year if rates drop as<br />
is widely expected.<br />
• <strong>Marina</strong> owners should<br />
focus on boater retention<br />
and introduce amenities and<br />
events that foster a stronger<br />
community. The goal should<br />
be to keep current boaters<br />
active at the marina.<br />
• Insurance rates are rising,<br />
and it is best to stay on top of how this<br />
expense may impact a marina’s value.<br />
If you are in a hurricane country, make<br />
sure you insure your docks as this can<br />
be an extremely expensive repair.<br />
While there is uncertainty about<br />
the economy and several shifts to the<br />
investment landscape, we are looking<br />
forward to another momentous year for<br />
the marina business in <strong>2024</strong>.<br />
Global Coverage, Global Marketing<br />
Book your advertising space in print and online to make your business stand out<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> Contacts<br />
www.marinaworld.com<br />
The Americas — Philippe Critot pcritot@marinaworld.com • France — Catherine Metais catherinemetais@marinaworld.com<br />
Italy — Eva Green nauta@ediconsult.com • Rest of <strong>World</strong> — Julia Hallam juliahallam@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
47
POWERING THE<br />
FUTURE OF MARINAS<br />
The next step in custom smart green<br />
electrical infrastructure<br />
Upgrade your marina today!<br />
Scan code to explore our solutions and get in touch with our experts.<br />
Scan for more<br />
information
Cost-conscious smart marinas<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> operators around the world are striving to embrace smarter working practices using digital technology. How can<br />
suppliers help? <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> asked a selection of industry experts to give guidance by answering a couple of pertinent<br />
questions.<br />
Q: What do you think is the single most important thing that marina owners/operators need to do to pave the way for a<br />
smarter marina? And how can they keep costs down in the adoption of smart technology?<br />
Vance Young,<br />
Scribble Software/MARINAGO<br />
A: Operating a marina or marine facility<br />
in the post-COVID era has revealed<br />
unprecedented challenges and created<br />
the ever-important need to operate a<br />
smarter operation. A key challenge<br />
affecting nearly all industries revolves<br />
around retaining quality staffing and<br />
the marina industry is no exception.<br />
Customer demand seems to rise while<br />
the pool of good, qualified personnel<br />
appears to be decreasing. With this<br />
challenge, it is ever so important to<br />
implement less time-consuming and<br />
smarter operation procedures.<br />
Scribble Software completely<br />
understands this dilemma and has<br />
invested time and resources to<br />
implement smarter technologies in<br />
our cloud-based marina management<br />
solutions. We know that many<br />
marinas are operating with fewer<br />
employees, so one of our goals is to<br />
create technology that allows the end<br />
customers to perform tasks that would<br />
normally be performed by marina<br />
staff. While this may sound strange at<br />
first, many operations are ideal for the<br />
end customer if marinas make use of<br />
features such as:<br />
• Online and self-guiding bookings and<br />
reservations<br />
• An online customer portal where<br />
customers can sign in and perform<br />
self-operations, such as reservations,<br />
invoice payments, adding payment<br />
methods, setting up ACH information<br />
and keeping track of account activity<br />
• Easy to use mobile QR code fuel<br />
pay-at-pump activity<br />
• Instant-Pay invoices via email and/or<br />
text messaging<br />
• Payment receipt delivery via email<br />
and/or text messaging<br />
All of these technological options<br />
have been made available in the<br />
MARINAGO Office cloud-based marina<br />
management solution. The mobile<br />
QR code fuel pay-at-pump system<br />
has proven to be a key contribution to<br />
operating a smarter marina. Our “smart”<br />
fuel server allows customers to use<br />
their mobile phones and easily scan a<br />
QR code on a fuel dispenser. This pulls<br />
up the MARINAGO Fuel system on the<br />
phone and guides the customer through<br />
purchasing and dispensing fuel. This<br />
automated and end customer-centric<br />
system is a key aspect in converting a<br />
marina to a smarter operation.<br />
Irena Cadez, <strong>Marina</strong> Master<br />
A: With over three decades of<br />
global experience supporting<br />
marina management worldwide,<br />
the <strong>Marina</strong> Master team recognises<br />
the transformative impact of smart<br />
technology on the future of marina<br />
operations and management.<br />
The single most crucial step for<br />
marina owners/operators in embracing<br />
a smarter approach is to automate and<br />
digitise marina processes extensively.<br />
This entails deploying automated and<br />
adaptive services and facilities that can<br />
be remotely accessed and managed via<br />
digital platforms, accessible from any<br />
device. This shift allows marina staff to<br />
redirect their focus towards meaningful<br />
client communication, nurturing<br />
empowered marina-client relationships<br />
and fostering an environment of<br />
superior customer service.<br />
Additionally, our my<strong>Marina</strong> mobile<br />
app enhances smart customer service<br />
SMART TECHNOLOGY<br />
by providing<br />
marina clients<br />
with convenient<br />
access to services<br />
and information,<br />
ensuring a<br />
seamless<br />
experience. A<br />
smart marina<br />
requires intelligent Irena Cadez<br />
technology,<br />
well-trained staff and adept customer<br />
service, all while upholding safety and<br />
data privacy.<br />
As an all-in-one support solution,<br />
we don’t merely provide software;<br />
we evolve alongside smart marinas,<br />
offering flexibility, ongoing consultation<br />
and reliable ongoing support to adapt<br />
to the dynamic needs and trends of the<br />
marina industry.<br />
Smart staff within a smart marina<br />
must possess a robust understanding<br />
of smart technology, excellent<br />
communication skills, strong problemsolving<br />
abilities and a willingness to<br />
learn and adapt. Our collaborations<br />
with Certified <strong>Marina</strong> Managers<br />
(CMMs) around the globe have proven<br />
highly beneficial, fostering knowledge<br />
exchange and the implementation of<br />
innovative ideas from different regions.<br />
Smart technology not only reduces<br />
costs but also promotes sustainability<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
49
SMART TECHNOLOGY<br />
and eco-friendliness. Manual services<br />
are now automated and paperless,<br />
consuming fewer resources and<br />
requiring fewer staff. As Darrell Barnett<br />
CMM, marina manager at Soldiers<br />
Point <strong>Marina</strong> in Australia, attests:<br />
“The software not only improves<br />
day-to-day operations but also saves<br />
me thousands of dollars annually in<br />
operational costs.”<br />
Bas Durieux, Seijsener<br />
A: One of the most transformative<br />
technologies today for a smarter<br />
marina is the AanUit.net system, which<br />
revolutionises how marina services are<br />
accessed and managed. AanUit.net<br />
allows guests to<br />
independently<br />
start services<br />
like docking,<br />
electricity,<br />
water, and<br />
more. It also<br />
provides them<br />
with direct<br />
Bas Durieux<br />
insight into<br />
their usage.<br />
Guests only<br />
pay for the services they actually use<br />
through a digital environment. This<br />
not only reduces the need for physical<br />
interactions but also streamlines<br />
the management of utility services,<br />
optimising both cost and usage.<br />
Our system gives marina operators<br />
complete oversight of who is using the<br />
facilities and who has paid. We handle<br />
the invoicing and ensure they receive<br />
the payments, significantly simplifying<br />
the administration of the marina.<br />
However, the journey towards a<br />
smarter marina isn’t just about digital<br />
upgrades. It’s about maintaining<br />
a balance with reliable ‘analogue’<br />
infrastructure that’s easily accessible<br />
and manageable. That’s why we focus<br />
on solutions with a low total cost of<br />
ownership – durable, dependable, and<br />
maintenance-friendly.<br />
At marinas where we have introduced<br />
AanUit.net, the impact is clearly<br />
noticeable. Boat owners and guests<br />
enjoy a smoother, more streamlined<br />
service interaction, which significantly<br />
increases the likelihood of them<br />
returning.<br />
Adopting smart solutions like AanUit.<br />
net is essential for marinas aiming to<br />
meet contemporary needs and prepare<br />
for future challenges. This system not<br />
only simplifies life for guests but also<br />
propels facilities forward, especially as<br />
we advance towards more sustainable<br />
and electronically powered boating<br />
paradigms.<br />
Brent Wierson, Molo <strong>Marina</strong><br />
Management/Stellar Software<br />
A: In the ever changing landscape of<br />
marina management, leveraging smart<br />
technology has become paramount<br />
to ensuring operational efficiency and<br />
enhancing customer experiences.<br />
There’s been an uptick in marina<br />
management<br />
software<br />
companies<br />
focusing on the<br />
pain points of<br />
marina owners<br />
and providing<br />
technical<br />
solutions to solve Brent Wierson<br />
them.<br />
Companies like Molo <strong>Marina</strong><br />
Management and Stellar Software take<br />
a unique approach to envisioning the<br />
future for marinas and how various<br />
aspects can benefit from integration of<br />
smart solutions, some of which we’ve<br />
included below:<br />
1 Dock management and monitoring<br />
– one way companies like Molo<br />
are getting ahead is by providing<br />
monitoring of dock occupancy, vessel<br />
arrivals and departures, and meter<br />
tracking for electricity, gas and water<br />
usage. Rental software platforms like<br />
Stellar have also adopted their own<br />
version of dock management with<br />
features like their ‘Dock Attendant’<br />
tool, which provides a digitised<br />
process for launching and returning<br />
rental boats to ensure smooth<br />
operations and compliance.<br />
2 Customer services and experience<br />
– smart technology empowers boat<br />
rental and club businesses to provide<br />
customers with instant access to<br />
information about marina facilities,<br />
membership details and rental<br />
options. Additionally, automated<br />
booking and payment systems are<br />
a great way to simplify operations,<br />
enhancing customer satisfaction and<br />
relieving administrative burden.<br />
3 Business operations and<br />
management – integrated<br />
management solutions for things<br />
like inventory management (POS),<br />
billing and financial reporting can<br />
enhance efficiency and accuracy.<br />
Data analytics tools take it a step<br />
further by offering insight into<br />
customer behaviour, market trends<br />
and operational performance,<br />
empowering marina managers with<br />
the information needed for informed<br />
decision-making and strategic<br />
planning.<br />
John Barbanas,<br />
Successful Software<br />
A: In order for marina owners/operators<br />
to be able to move towards a smarter<br />
marina, they need to invest in flexible<br />
digital infrastructure. This infrastructure<br />
should support interconnected<br />
systems that will be an amalgamation<br />
of hardware, Internet of Things (IoT)<br />
and software<br />
solutions.<br />
The ideal<br />
infrastructure<br />
will gather<br />
data from<br />
various data<br />
sources. By<br />
having a<br />
solid digital John Barbanas<br />
foundation, marina owners/operators<br />
can harness the power of data<br />
analytics, automation and monitoring<br />
to optimise operations, improve overall<br />
50 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
SMART TECHNOLOGY<br />
efficiency and ensure positive word of<br />
mouth from their customers.<br />
To keep costs down in the adoption<br />
of smart technology, the management<br />
team should invest in modular and<br />
scalable systems. This will allow the<br />
gradual adoption of smart technologies<br />
based on the current needs and budget<br />
of the business. When the budget<br />
permits, the management will be able<br />
to add the next module that will make<br />
its operation smarter.<br />
Moreover, choosing smart solutions<br />
that can seamlessly integrate with<br />
existing software and hardware will<br />
minimise integration costs and reduce<br />
the learning curve.<br />
George Spiers, Konnected<br />
Technology<br />
A: In our experience at Konnected<br />
Technology the single most important<br />
upgrade or smart improvement that<br />
marina operators need to adopt within<br />
possible smart marina technology<br />
starts with investing in comprehensive<br />
internet network with coverage over the<br />
entire facility.<br />
As most smart<br />
technology is<br />
cloud based, a<br />
strong, reliable<br />
internet system<br />
is paramount<br />
regardless<br />
of the smart<br />
technology<br />
George Spiers<br />
deployed. In the<br />
age where internet access has become<br />
as essential as water, light and food,<br />
the trend is high demand for premium<br />
internet in marinas. Also comprehensive<br />
internet is the first step to implementing<br />
further smart marina solutions.<br />
In terms of cost recovery, upfront<br />
investment costs can also be recovered<br />
by passing along the cost, along with<br />
the benefits of premium Wi-Fi to boat<br />
owners. If implemented, premium<br />
services can create a new revenue<br />
stream for marinas. Recognising this<br />
shift, we acknowledge that premium<br />
Wi-Fi is not just a luxury but an<br />
essential service that defines a marina<br />
experience.<br />
Idan Cohen, Pick a Pier<br />
A: The future of<br />
marinas lies in<br />
their evolution<br />
into smart,<br />
interconnected<br />
hubs that<br />
optimise<br />
decision-making<br />
and provide<br />
valuable insights. Idan Cohen<br />
By collecting<br />
data digitally and methodically,<br />
marinas can comprehensively<br />
understand their operations and make<br />
more informed decisions. While there<br />
are immediate learnings and actions<br />
marinas can take from day one, the<br />
long term, compounding effect of this<br />
effort would be game changing.<br />
With today’s technology and tools,<br />
the initial investment is no longer a<br />
barrier. Instead of expensive hardware<br />
and complicated physical solutions,<br />
marinas can now access and leverage<br />
proprietary and external data in<br />
new ways. Connecting the dots and<br />
combining all stakeholders, while<br />
utilising future planning as part of the<br />
sharing economy and circular economy<br />
principles, will yield the best results for<br />
our industry.<br />
Smart marinas must also look beyond<br />
their own operations and communicate<br />
with other industry stakeholders to<br />
share and receive data. This approach<br />
also applies to marina chains, which<br />
may excel at internal communication<br />
but often lack external data sharing<br />
capabilities.<br />
At Pick a Pier, we’re working with<br />
partners to establish harmonisation<br />
within marinas and across the industry,<br />
making data collection more valuable<br />
for all. We invite you to join us in this<br />
collaborative effort, as we can drive the<br />
growth of smart marinas worldwide.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
53
We are building our global marine fast charge network, creating local and<br />
regional charging hubs and corridors.<br />
If you are looking to offer electric boat supercharging to future-proof<br />
<br />
technology at no cost to you, providing 24/7 customer care and all<br />
compatibility testing.<br />
enquiries@aqua-superpower.com<br />
www.aqua-superpower.com<br />
MonoDock System<br />
Superyacht<br />
Heavy Duty<br />
Breakwater<br />
727-954-3604<br />
www.bluewatermarinesystems.com<br />
info@bluewatermarinesystems.com<br />
The choice of professionals<br />
www.roodberg.com<br />
The Original
SMART TECHNOLOGY<br />
Sean Cocks,<br />
Pacsoft International<br />
A: There are now plenty of realworld<br />
examples demonstrating ways<br />
smart technologies can save marinas<br />
time and money, make life easier<br />
for customers, and drive positive<br />
sustainability and environmental<br />
outcomes.<br />
My number<br />
one piece of<br />
advice when<br />
beginning<br />
your smarttechnology<br />
journey is<br />
to educate<br />
Sean Cocks<br />
yourself on<br />
what solutions are out there, including<br />
their capabilities and limitations. Many<br />
solutions appear the same at first<br />
glance, but if you get down to the detail<br />
there can be significant differences with<br />
major implications.<br />
For example, two systems may<br />
operate similarly, in terms of how you<br />
management software with functional<br />
integration across all parts of your<br />
marina, allowing a single point for<br />
holistic management.<br />
Our own PacsoftNG software,<br />
available on-site or in the cloud, is<br />
an ideal hub for this purpose. Its<br />
integrations across membership, point<br />
of sale, finance and billing, food and<br />
beverage, security, and fuel and utility<br />
systems allow you to gain valuable<br />
insights and manage all your smart<br />
technologies from a single place.<br />
A final word of caution: we all want<br />
our software to be ‘simple’ but that<br />
can sometimes come at a cost if a<br />
technology’s shortcomings force you<br />
and your team to add time-intensive<br />
manual processes to compensate.<br />
Picking the right technology up front,<br />
with well-thought-out automation and<br />
a comprehensive feature set, will save<br />
you time and money in the long run.<br />
Mark Read,<br />
Smarter Technologies<br />
A: Deploying a real-time IoT network<br />
across a site is the first step towards a<br />
smart marina both afloat and ashore.<br />
Wireless retrofitted devices monitor<br />
and track anything, so you can improve<br />
efficiencies and drive down costs.<br />
Orion is the largest unified IoT platform<br />
available: simple, easy, and costeffective.<br />
This secure network allows you to<br />
gather real-time data, track, monitor<br />
and control (turn things on/off etc.)<br />
without sim-cards or Wi-Fi. This onesystem<br />
approach to service multiple<br />
requirements mitigates costs. Using<br />
standard software platforms and apps<br />
avoids costly IT development.<br />
Whilst our hardware and software<br />
platforms offer monitoring solutions that<br />
improve customer experiences, many<br />
business modules focus specifically<br />
on reducing expenses and improving<br />
margins.<br />
Retrofitting our MID-approved<br />
meters to automate billing and control<br />
access to utilities removes the cost of<br />
managing utilities and prevents losses.<br />
Customer-facing apps allow payment<br />
and real-time visibility and reporting<br />
tools demonstrate ESG compliance.<br />
The costs of managing compliance<br />
of marine businesses can be huge.<br />
Our platforms fully automate these<br />
functions, removing the human<br />
cost and only<br />
alerting you<br />
when necessary.<br />
Examples include<br />
temperature<br />
monitoring,<br />
safety equipment,<br />
defibrillators<br />
and Legionella<br />
compliance.<br />
Our geo-fence Mark Read<br />
platforms also<br />
help you control parking, track assets,<br />
know when a berth is occupied, check<br />
washroom temperatures, water or<br />
fuel levels, and where your visitors or<br />
contractors are.<br />
Many of our solutions can be<br />
delivered on a zero-capex basis,<br />
enabling you to get all the benefits of<br />
efficiencies and cost saving from day<br />
one without the usual upfront costs.<br />
The key to smart marinas lies in the<br />
simplicity and effectiveness of real-time<br />
data collection, intelligent analysis, and<br />
ease of reporting.<br />
capture and input data, but one may<br />
deliver much richer information back.<br />
This could be real-time occupancy<br />
reporting, detailed financial forecasting,<br />
or even customer revenue analysis.<br />
If this rich information is coupled with<br />
intelligent automation, you will gain<br />
actionable insights while also saving<br />
your team time and freeing them up to<br />
do what they do best.<br />
The foundation underpinning a<br />
modern ‘smart marina’ is clever marina<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
55
PRODUCTS, SERVICES & PEOPLE<br />
Greener practices in Mallorca<br />
Melchor Mascaró has awarded Flovac the contract for a vacuum sanitation system that forms part of the remodelling of<br />
Puerto Portals in Mallorca.<br />
The project involves the<br />
installation of a double network<br />
of pipes for the management of<br />
sewage and bilge water that will<br />
provide an efficient waste evacuation<br />
service directly from the yacht<br />
moorings. The system will not only<br />
simplify the process for boaters but<br />
also contribute to environmental<br />
protection by minimising pollution<br />
risks and unpleasant odours in the<br />
port.<br />
One of the most notable features<br />
of the system is its ability to adapt<br />
to vessels of different sizes, from<br />
small boats to megayachts. This<br />
is achieved by installing discharge<br />
inlets on the dock edges, which<br />
allow wastewater to be sucked in by<br />
the vacuum in the network, or in the<br />
case of larger vessels, by means of<br />
their own drive pumps.<br />
www.flovac.es<br />
There’s a whole new<br />
global audience out there . . .<br />
UK Service & Repairs for Boat Handling Equipment<br />
• Proven knowledge & experience of yard liing<br />
equipment across the main manufacturers within the<br />
industry. From 25-320T straddle carriers to 15-300T<br />
self-propelled boat movers and static cranes to<br />
hydraulic trailers and dry stack forklis.<br />
• Approved service agent and parts distributor for:<br />
• Specialists in Wise boat handling products.<br />
There’s a new audience of thousands visiting marinaworld.com<br />
Add this important online readership to your audience!<br />
Book advertising in all seven issues of <strong>Marina</strong> <strong>World</strong> magazine<br />
and enjoy a free advertisement all year round on our home page.<br />
Contact Julia Hallam for details.<br />
juliahallam@marinaworld.co.uk<br />
02382 180 163 • service@mppengineering.co.uk<br />
www.mppengineering.co.uk<br />
<strong>Marina</strong><br />
<strong>World</strong> www.marinaworld.com<br />
56 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
PRODUCTS, SERVICES & PEOPLE<br />
Inland marina<br />
– first for<br />
hydrogen<br />
Robert and Audrey Parton, husband<br />
and wife owners of Aqueduct <strong>Marina</strong>,<br />
a narrowboat marina in Church<br />
Minshull on the Shropshire Union<br />
Canal, have long been stewards<br />
for decarbonisation. Surrounded<br />
by iconic English countryside<br />
and mindful of the need to keep<br />
inland waterways as unpolluted<br />
as possible, they have scored a<br />
UK first by offering hydrogen and<br />
fuel cell technology to the boating<br />
community.<br />
The marina, which was also one<br />
of the first inland waterways marinas<br />
in England to offer HVO alongside<br />
conventional diesel, is now supplying<br />
BOC’s Genie lightweight hydrogen<br />
cylinders. These contain 30% more<br />
gas than equivalent steel cylinders,<br />
resulting in fewer changeovers.<br />
In addition to supplying hydrogen,<br />
establishing a commercial agreement<br />
with BOC enables Aqueduct to supply<br />
all BOC gases to customers. Chandlery<br />
manager, Tom Raines, explains that<br />
new customers need to set up a BOC<br />
account, which normally takes about<br />
ten minutes, and then can buy welding<br />
gas, balloon gas, oxygen and hydrogen.<br />
Aqueduct owners are also working<br />
with Hydrogen Afloat, producers of<br />
hydrogen fuel cell domestic power<br />
systems for boats. These innovative units<br />
can be fitted to the roof of most narrow<br />
boats and will reduce engine running<br />
time for battery charging while emitting<br />
nothing more damaging than water.<br />
MDL partners with Club Lagoon<br />
UK operator MDL <strong>Marina</strong>s has formed an exclusive partnership agreement<br />
with Club Lagoon at its Ocean Village <strong>Marina</strong> in Southampton, Hampshire.<br />
The collaboration offers Club Lagoon<br />
members access to the marina’s fivestar<br />
facilities and 10% of the annual<br />
berthing tariff back in Otium Rewards<br />
points, double the usual amount. The<br />
points can be redeemed against a<br />
wide range of products and services,<br />
including fuel.<br />
Launched in 2020, MDL’s pointsbased<br />
loyalty programme has been<br />
designed to give customers a more<br />
personalised experience when using<br />
services within the marina group. “With<br />
our Otium Rewards loyalty programme,<br />
berth holders get the chance to make<br />
real savings and can choose where<br />
best to apply their points to give them<br />
maximum personalised value from<br />
their berthing agreement,” says Tim<br />
<strong>May</strong>er, sales and marketing director.<br />
In addition to the rewards, Club<br />
Lagoon members will benefit from<br />
exclusive discounts on short-term<br />
berthing at the marina, as well as<br />
“My expectation is that we will not<br />
sell much hydrogen in the short term,<br />
but there are power systems, such as<br />
the one provided by Hydrogen Afloat,<br />
on the market now and I am looking<br />
forward to seeing how the hydrogen<br />
propulsion market develops,” Robert<br />
Parton says.<br />
Nick Swift, director of Hydrogen<br />
Afloat, comments: “We are delighted<br />
that Aqueduct is the first marina in<br />
the UK to stock hydrogen. We need to<br />
find ways to decarbonise the canals<br />
boatyard services at nearby Saxon<br />
Wharf and access to permanent<br />
berth holder offers at numerous<br />
bars, restaurants and businesses<br />
surrounding the marina.<br />
“We’re thrilled to embark on<br />
this exciting journey with MDL<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s,” says Corentin Blanchard,<br />
customer relations manager at<br />
Beneteau Group’s Club Lagoon. “The<br />
collaboration will offer lots of great<br />
benefits for our Club Lagoon members<br />
as well as access to MDL’s fantastic<br />
Ocean Village <strong>Marina</strong>.”<br />
Awarded ‘<strong>Marina</strong> of the Year’ at the<br />
British Yachting Awards in December<br />
2023, Ocean Village <strong>Marina</strong> is claimed<br />
to be the UK’s only five-star marina,<br />
offering a raft of upmarket leisure<br />
facilities, luxury residential dwellings<br />
and a £50 million luxury spa hotel<br />
complex. Surrounded by shops, bars,<br />
restaurants and a cinema, its waterfront<br />
is bustling and sophisticated.<br />
and rivers of the UK. We can start<br />
with domestic power, since that works<br />
now, but in time I expect we will see<br />
hydrogen used for propulsion.”<br />
“Birmingham, London and other<br />
cities already have fuel cell buses, so<br />
hydrogen gas is becoming more widely<br />
used. Making hydrogen available at<br />
the canal-side supports innovation<br />
in the inland waterways, creating the<br />
opportunity for early adopters to take<br />
advantage of the benefits it offers,” he<br />
adds.<br />
www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
57
PRODUCTS, SERVICES & PEOPLE<br />
Index to Advertisers<br />
ASAR, USA 14<br />
Aqua superPower, UK 54<br />
Bellingham Marine, USA 7 & 59<br />
Bluet, Finland 36<br />
Bluewater Marine & Dock, USA 44<br />
Bluewater Marine Systems, USA 54<br />
Capria, Argentina 32<br />
Catamaran Cruisers, USA 38<br />
Conolift by Kropf<br />
Industrial, Canada 22<br />
D-Marin, Greece 29<br />
EMP Industries/Fast Attack 38<br />
EMP Industries/SaniSailor 42<br />
Eagle Floats by<br />
Hendren Plastics, USA 41<br />
Edgewater Resources, USA 22<br />
Flovac, Spain 24<br />
Gigieffe, Italy 46<br />
Golden Manufacturing, USA 12<br />
Ingemar, Italy 10<br />
Inmare, Italy 44<br />
Lindley, Portugal 38<br />
Livart, China 42<br />
MPP Engineering, UK 56<br />
Marex, Croatia 32<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> Master by IRM, Slovenia 46<br />
<strong>Marina</strong> Projects, UK 60<br />
MARINAGo by<br />
Scribble Software, USA 51<br />
Marinetek, Finland 4<br />
Martini <strong>Marina</strong>s, Italy 26<br />
METSTRADE, Netherlands 20<br />
Molo <strong>Marina</strong> Management/Stellar<br />
Systems, USA 52<br />
Perspective Products, USA 24<br />
PierPump by<br />
Vogelsang, Germany 8<br />
Plus Marine, Italy 52<br />
Premier Materials/Konnected<br />
Technology, USA 48<br />
Rolec, UK 16<br />
Ronautica, Spain 14<br />
Roodberg - a brand of Frisian<br />
Industries, Netherlands 54<br />
SF <strong>Marina</strong> System, Sweden 2<br />
Seaflex, Sweden 6<br />
Seijsener, Netherlands 48<br />
Simply <strong>Marina</strong>s, USA 40<br />
Superior Group, Australia 36<br />
Twinwood by CJ Plast, Portugal 44<br />
Walcon Marine, UK 25<br />
Wiggins Lift Co, USA 42<br />
WISE Handling, UK 26<br />
Promotions at Golden<br />
Three new positions of vice president have been created at dock solutions<br />
specialist Golden Manufacturing.<br />
With over 20 years of valued<br />
contribution to Golden’s growth and<br />
success, Amber Clark has been<br />
named the new vice president of<br />
administration. In her tenure with<br />
the company, she’s moved through<br />
bookkeeping, sales<br />
and design roles,<br />
and earned a<br />
college degree. In<br />
her new position,<br />
Clark develops,<br />
implements and<br />
manages all<br />
administrative,<br />
Amber Clark<br />
insurance and<br />
HR policies and<br />
procedures, as well<br />
as overseeing DOT and legal issues.<br />
Devin Garrison has been named<br />
vice president<br />
of operations.<br />
Having begun at<br />
Golden nearly nine<br />
years ago, he has<br />
been promoted<br />
numerous times,<br />
proving himself at<br />
each level within<br />
the company to<br />
become a driving<br />
Devin Garrison<br />
force behind its many achievements. He<br />
oversees processes, capacity planning<br />
and resource allocation, providing<br />
David Randall<br />
David Randall CMM has been appointed CEO at Empire<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s Group in Australia. He brings extensive<br />
experience in the marine and marina industries to his role,<br />
with a career history in the New Zealand Navy, hospitality,<br />
yacht charter, yacht club facilities management and marina<br />
management. Most recently, he was general manager of<br />
Empire <strong>Marina</strong> Lake Macquarie and part of the executive<br />
management team of Empire <strong>Marina</strong>s Group.<br />
Empire <strong>Marina</strong>s Group is owned by<br />
interests associated with the Vaux and<br />
Richardson families and celebrates its<br />
20th year in <strong>2024</strong>. Group chairman,<br />
Darren Vaux, said: “Joining Empire<br />
<strong>Marina</strong>s almost three years ago, David<br />
has demonstrated his capacity and<br />
drive to deliver outstanding outcomes<br />
in the management of our facilities and<br />
the delivery of customer service. He is<br />
the consummate marina professional,<br />
with a commitment to the development<br />
maximum efficiency while further<br />
reducing operating costs. His focus<br />
also includes monitoring strict quality<br />
control measures that exceed industry<br />
standards.<br />
No stranger to<br />
the marine industry,<br />
Don Lunardini<br />
is now vice<br />
president of sales<br />
and marketing.<br />
A results-driven<br />
leader, he has a<br />
proven track record<br />
of creating a culture<br />
Don Lunardini<br />
of continuous<br />
improvement and building an effective<br />
customer base. Prior to joining Golden,<br />
Lunardini had numerous managerial<br />
roles within the tyre business, including<br />
at Michelin. He supervises regional<br />
teams, coordinates public relations<br />
and provides input into product<br />
development.<br />
“I’m excited by these three<br />
appointments and the dynamic team<br />
we’ve built,” said company president Bill<br />
Golden. “We’ve positioned ourselves<br />
to be a forward-leaning company that<br />
will continue to innovate and radically<br />
redefine boat lifts and dock solutions for<br />
decades to come.”<br />
www.goldenboatlifts.com<br />
www.goldenmarinesystems.com<br />
David Randall<br />
of the industry as a whole, and we are<br />
excited to see what he can achieve in<br />
his new role.”<br />
Empire <strong>Marina</strong>s has big plans for<br />
the future, with a major expansion and<br />
redevelopment of Empire <strong>Marina</strong> Lake<br />
Macquarie in the planning stages and<br />
a range of industry-leading climate<br />
change resilience and environmental<br />
initiatives proposed for Empire <strong>Marina</strong><br />
Bobbin Head.<br />
www.empiremarinas.com.au<br />
58 www.marinaworld.com – <strong>May</strong>/<strong>June</strong> <strong>2024</strong>
SETTING THE WORLD<br />
STANDARD IN MARINA DESIGN<br />
CONCEPT DESIGN & MARINA MASTER PLANNING<br />
FEASIBILITY STUDIES & MARKET RESEARCH<br />
BUSINESS PLANNING<br />
MARINA & WATERFRONT DESIGN<br />
TENDER AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT<br />
MARINA OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT<br />
ENVIRONMENTAL & LEGISLATIVE ADVICE<br />
PROPERTY CONSULTANCY SERVICES<br />
GLOBAL WATERFRONT & MARINA DEVELOPMENT<br />
CONSULTANCY AT ITS BEST<br />
www.marinaprojects.com