BV opens yacht expertise centre

The French classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) has opened a Yacht Technical Office in Genoa, Italy. It provides a centre of expertise for all issues relating to the construction, classification and statutory certification of mega yachts.

Maxime Pachot, manager of the Yacht Technical Office, says, “The technical issues which face yacht designers, builders and owners are getting more and more specialised. Mega yachts are often at the cutting edge of design, materials use and equipment. Yachts are also subject to a complex regulatory regime which varies considerably with the size of the vessel and its intended use. There is no such thing as a one size fits all rule book for yachts, and a lot of expertise is needed to ascertain which are the right rules and regulations to apply, and how to apply them.

“For some time we have had a specialist team in our headquarters to handle yacht matters, and we have very clear and up to date Yacht Rules for classification. The Yacht Technical Office brings further benefits to the many BV clients who choose to class their yachts with us. It brings together yacht specialists of different disciplines and provides a centre of expertise to which designers, yards and owners from around the world refer for help with classification and statutory issues. We chose Genoa for the centre because of the importance of Italy as a yacht building nation, and because Genoa itself is home to a reservoir of yacht expertise. From here we can manage plan approval for the many yachts we have building to BV class in major Italian yacht yards, and also cover the needs of owners and yards in other markets. For example, we are now classing and overseeing the building of a yacht designed in Italy and built in Greece for an owner based elsewhere.”