In the SuperYacht Times "Ask The Expert" section, Tom speaks on the ever changing AV/IT landscape within the industry, alongside fellow experts.
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The “art” of future proofing a system on any marine vessel is not having to loop back and modify the core infrastructure. End user items and visible items such as displays are very simple, late-stage upgrades. We take a holistic view on this; the builder has a contractual obligation to build a luxury asset and the earlier the builder can gather information on infrastructure the better it is for all parties. While developing the GA with the designers, engineers, architects, and builders, we are allowing for space, cooling, routing, electrical loads and positioning of major items. We always allow for “headroom” in any system.
The simple answer is to be deliberate in your goal, design the system with overcapacity in the most cost-effective and least disruptive way possible; that way you get little resistance from any party.
Any owner will have key likes and dislikes; always focus onthe dislikes first as those are the experiences we need to never repeat. Next stage is the key “must haves”, the complexity and size of the system, the capability of the builder and, of course, budget. Depending on time available and the stage you are at in the build, the more detailed the specification is, and the more things that can be defined at an early stage, then the more secure the budget, as the integrator will not be adding contingency costs for unknowns. Multi-million-dollar systems are not uncommon so a contingency of only 5 per cent is a substantial sum. Once you know the budget and the complexity then you will, by default, be left with a shortlist of experienced, well-funded and known integrators. Remember: it’s people that build yachts. You can get what you think is the right supplier but may get their “B” team, so make sure they have the resources available to do your build.
Having a plan is strongly recommended as part of the ISM Code for almost all yachts. There are two pieces of legislation relating to cybersecurity, the first being IMO Resolution MSC.428(98) which has been in force since January 2021. This lays the foundation for what each yacht should have in place in terms of planning, how they verify and how they act if there is a cybersecurity event or breach. This is strongly recommended as cybersecurity breaches can have both a large operational and financial impact to the vessel, but also potential reputational damage to the owner or their assets.
The second piece of legislation is known as IACS UR E26 and UR E27. These are IACS Unified Requirements and therefore will be adopted by each classification society. For larger yachts classed as ‘passenger yachts’ (e.g. REG Yacht Code Part B vessels) the legislation is compulsory for any new-build contract signed on or after 1st July 2024. This latter piece of legislation is a step change in the marine industry and something we welcome. It now puts the (cyber)security of systems installed on board yachts as a primary consideration, rather than an afterthought as is all too common in our industry sadly.
Starlink certainly took the industry by storm with their direct-to-consumer business model, and they can be seen as a true disrupter. However, it’s important to mix your ‘sources of internet’ as no provider is 100 per cent reliable and outages can happen, so you must have a fallback plan in place. Another important issue to consider is availability and whether you have committed bandwidth. LEO satellites generally cover the whole globe (depending on their inclination) but that doesn’t mean you can access them globally – a lot is done with local licensing on a country-by-country basis, so it’s important to check that the service is available in the areas you plan to sail. If it isn’t, you then need to rely on that secondary system or provider. Will traditional geostationary VSAT die out? That’s the million-dollar question. I think we will see it used less and less and certainly if it is used, the CIR rate that yachts subscribe to will become lower. On the flip side, that may mean wholesale bandwidth costs come down, so some resurgence in the future is likely with a new price point per Mbps compared with today.
I think the phrase that sums this up is “manage expectations and not over-promise or under-deliver. Unless the crew and integrator have been involved from the original build then you cannot possibly know the capabilities of the “as-built system”. We have experienced situations whereby the crew quite innocently, and with the best intentions, get an indicative cost for the upgrade, give this to the owner, only to then find that the infrastructure and modifications required to accommodate the promised upgrade exceeds the component cost and the budget spirals out of control. Time should be taken to look at infrastructure first and foremost, and if needed, phase in the upgrade(s). Do something tangible, whether that be a significant upgrade in a single space, Wi-Fi or communication. If the owner sees a step change in performance or enjoyment of the space or feature, then they will almost certainly continue to plan the next phase.
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