Exploring style
ONBOARD recently sat down with vice-president Janne Salminen to discuss Europlan Yacht Interiors’ vision of yachting, discussing the company’s explorer vessel building expertise, and asking how their know how can change the superyacht onboard experience
What defines a real expedition vessel in your opinion?
JS: That’s a very good question. To start with: at the core, explorer yachts are vessels that have been purpose built or specially converted to be able to travel long distances. According to some yacht brokers and yacht management experts, real explorer yachts should be able to run at least 5,000 nautical miles without needing to go into port. Is this the case with all the explorer vessels that we have currently available on the market? The technical capacities to really explore should be there, but some of the luxury yachts that are actually classified as explorer yachts do not meet the requirements. We are particularly talking about big volumes, storage capacity, seaworthiness, minimum range and so on. Nowadays, function plays a vital role together with aesthetics. Also, some explorer yachts fall under SOLAS rules, and that needs to be taken into account when building a yacht interior as well.
Function and aesthetics: can both of these be combined in explorer yacht building process?
JS: Of course they can. There is a gap in understanding aesthetics and a misconception of luxury these days in the context of expedition vessels. “Function and aesthetics” — these two actually cannot live without each other in the yachting world.
However we need to establish what’s behind the word “aesthetics” — is it luxury, comfort or both? Some designers would say that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury”. At Europlan Yacht Interiors we believe that this statement is the key point in building explorer yachts.
How can good project management derived from the cruise ship background change the superyacht cruising experience?
JS: How are we changing the superyacht cruising experience (it’s happening!)? By re-interpreting the laws of luxury interiors with our unique know-how, giving life to yacht designs through high-tech solutions and advanced engineering developments. Our strong project management background and flexible subcontracting network focuses on deliveries in any foreign shipyard. The company’s business concept is focused on planning and designing, material procurement, installation and post- delivery support. So, as you can see,
we offer turnkey solutions. We like to call ourselves a ‘one-stop shop” for superyacht and explorer yacht new builds and refits.