Held from April 8-9, just before the 3rd Singapore Yachting Festival, the roster of expert speakers, a keen audience and captivating themes attracted attendees from the region and beyond for panel discussions, ‘fireside-chat’-style interviews and networking activities.

Words: Andrew Dembina; photos: Southeast Asia Yachting Conference

The Southeast Asia Yachting Conference 2025 (SEAYC 2025) certainly struck a positive chord for the 200-plus attending this year, at ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove last week. 

Bringing together key industry leaders, marina developers and operators, yacht builders, charter operators, and marine technology innovators to explore the future of yachting in the region, the annual event was riveting. It featured expert-led panels, delving into topics that ranged from infrastructure, market trends, the rise of superyacht exploration, advancements in renewable energy and biofuels – and a thread throughout, especially on Day 1, was sustainability across yachting.  

Day 2 concluded with dedicated breakout sessions for targeted industry engagement.

The opening keynote welcome and introduction was made jointly on April 8 with Marco Valle, CEO of Azimut-Benetti Group, and Arthur Tay, Chairman of SUTL and ONE°15 Marina (pictured above). This allowed some time for discussion and insights into market trends, sustainability, and the evolving landscape of luxury yacht ownership and marina development in Southeast Asia.

“Although I have not visited Singapore for a long time, here and regionally we see a lot of potential,” Valle declared.

Tay recalled his first trip in the famed shipyard district of Verraggio in Italy: “I remember buying my first Azimut and a Bennetti from Marco years ago and we have been friends ever since,” he told the assembled.

“We believe this region will grow a lot in the next few years, we need to improve our network, efficiency and raise our standards. We are very different from Japan and other parts of Asia. We had a great Icomia [International Council of Marine Industry Associations] meeting yesterday, and we learned a lot from each other and discussed the needs of marina and owners and those in the industry.”

As the discussion turned to customer needs these days, the topic of sustainability got first mention: “This is a big part of owners’ and builders’ concerns now,” said Valle, “but it depends on the size of the boats – for bigger ones it’s easier to find hybrid propulsion; for smaller ones it’s not so easy – and it’s not so easy to install HVO fuel propulsion in these, too.”

“On sustainability, the next generation of owners and marina users expect this to take place,” said Tay. “You have to work with the government because a lot of marina operators are funding sustainable ways of operating at their own cost, which can be very expensive. We are getting some help from the Singapore government. Consumers will make a choice more and more to use marina services that are greener.”

“We also find this with our models – a customer preference for cleaner fuel and propulsion,” agreed Valle. He went on to say that another aspect of change that he feels Asia will embrace soon is co-ownership in boating: “The future is to rent a boat, like we see more and more with cars today, and someone else manages it.”

Following this opening, a presentation on the Hong Kong International Airport Skytopia Development Blueprint was put forward by Cissy Chan from Airport Authority Hong Kong (pictures above). She broadly outlined plans for the 200ha waterfront space expansion, including a proposed 500-vessel marina – including 50 berths for vessels over 40m.

The conference then segued into the first industry panel discussion, entitled Masterplanning: Future Asian Coastal Marina Developments, moderated by Jonathan Sit of SUTL Enterprise, in which marina development experts discussed increasing demand and upcoming waterfront projects across Asia.

The focus then shifted: to Tourism and Chartering: Market Trends Across Southeast Asia, during which, Vu Tran of Tam Son Yachting provided insights into Vietnam’s growing role in yachting and tourism. Halong Bay, the Unesco World Heritage Site, has raised the bar of its cruises and charters there, as the number of vessels in these waters have decreased through official regulations. “It opens more opportunities,” he said. “Eight years ago, a 50ft yacht charter there was seen as amazing; recently, we started operating a 28m Azimut Grande there.” 

The afternoon sessions began with Icomia: Propelling Our Future, presented by Joe Lynch, the CEO of Icomia (pictured above), addressing global initiatives and future developments in the yachting industry, with a focus on a 500-page carbon emissions study that the association recently commissioned. This flowed into a panel discussion on Technology Transforming the Yachting Landscape – exploring the latest advancements in electrification and onboard systems, industry challenges, and potential solutions. Harvey Brewin of Simpson Marine, Singapore said that “originally, the Sanlorenzo 50Steel was going to be hybrid diesel, but through its research period, it went into the more sustainable methanol cell idea.”

Sustainability would be a key focus later in the day with Renewables and Biofuels in Singapore and Southeast Asia, presented by Neste, which operates a Singapore-based renewable diesel refinery. This led into the last panel: Where to Next: Rise of Alternatives and Sustainability, during which, Lynch commented: “At Icomia, we want to help both the regulators and the yacht makers. When rules are made over newly-made laws, what happens? Owners hang on to their old yachts for longer that push out a lot of emissions.

“Additionally, we believe in practicality when it comes to boat types and the fuel they use – companies that make boats should inform customers about what is best for the region that the boat will be used in.”

On Day 2, panels started with operational challenges and opportunities in Southeast Asia: Asia Supremacy Explorers: Navigating Owner Requests and Expectation – featuring Peter Mahony, General Manager, APAC, Benetti Yachts, Chris Blackwell from Echo Yachts, and Sarah Flavell from Damen Yachting  (all pictured above) – who discussed the evolving demands of superyacht owners operating in Southeast Asia.

“After we saw more interest in larger and explorer boats during Covid in Asia, we now think more about how a boat will be used rather than where they are based and we think about how they would like to personalise their yachts,” said Mahony.“ The owner is the explorer – not the boat. So we are often asked to build gaming rooms, access for elderly family members, and other important needs they request. Serviceability is very important – it’s not about flashy features or technology that isn’t necessary.”

Blackwell said: “When we are customising yachts in Singapore and Dubai, we build weather proofing for tropical or humid conditions, install aircon that’s a lot stronger than, say, in Europe. They want what’s necessary, but not too complicated. Most prefer, for example, a non-centralised entertainment system, in case something goes wrong, rather than it all being on one system.

Flavell noted: “We have to design boats that can be used in all kinds of locations, from tropical to cold waters as our clients often want to take their yachts to different regions – our job is to make sure we understand what their needs and uses are likely to be. Recently built Amels yachts have been in this region; they wanted to be offshore for a long time, and we don’t underestimate how comfortable passengers want to be – that’s part of the experience – so we make these like a superyacht combined with an explorer.”

This was followed by Southeast Asia Corridor: Working with Neighbouring Regions, led by Suzy Rayment from the Asia Pacific Superyacht Association, exploring cross-border collaborations opportunities, regional yacht movement, and the origins of incoming vessels.

The final sessions on infrastructure development began with Ready the Yards: Infrastructure Opportunities and Warranty Constraints – featuring industry experts who discussed the challenges and opportunities in developing yacht maintenance facilities across the region.

And a Q&A led by Mike Derrett of IBI News with Mohammed Alshaali, founder and Chairman of Gulf Craft, was insightful – once again encouraging the support of government support and / or land use  across yachting industries.

The conference concluded with Breakout and Experience Sessions offering tailored networking opportunities in several industry niches, including sessions on marinas, captains, and the superyacht sector.

As proceedings wound down, Yacht Style caught up with Lynch, who had made five concluding remarks at the conference’s end to elaborate on these: “My five key takeaways from this conference that I ask people to think about are: first all we need to work together as an industry to demonstrate the full value that we create. Not just the cost or price of what we are selling, but of what we provide in the communities in which we operate – the marina fees, the services into marinas, the additional revenue created by suppliers, wherever we work.

“The second is to work harder to build positive, proactive collaboration with governments. If we can do that, we can better understand regulatory frameworks, unlock investment and help our industry grow.

The third point is to foster collaboration across all of the facets of our industry. Boat builders need marina operators, marina operators need service yards, service yards need logistics, and specialist skills – this all happens naturally but we need to celebrate it.

“Sustainability is absolutely crucial to our industry. We need to make sure we’re working together to operate sustainably, to measure the impact we make, and to show that we’re taking full responsibility to proactively reduce that impact.

“And finally, perhaps the most fundamental one: we need to continue to invest, or invest more in the skills and support we provide to the skilled tradespeople, the skilled hosts – the captains, the hospitality crew – who we need to deliver our business objectives and to deliver our customers’ dreams.”

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