What do you love about being a super yacht, captain?
I mean, I think it's it's just been a thing since it's not even been a captain. It's just working in in the industry since the beginning, it's been a love of travel, a love of meeting new people, , seeing different places, seeing new unique things. That you normally I guess in normal life you would probably not have that exposure to which is pretty unique in our industry. So , it's it's all of those factors. But I guess the main the main one's always been for me has been the travel aspect. Interacting with different cultures and seeing new places and meeting new people. Jim McGrath:.
What recent changes have you seen in the superyacht industry so recently in the last five years, post COVID Ferdi:. In the industry specifically, like or or relating to anything as such. Jim McGrath: Just in the industry how people engage with the industry, different customers, different expectations, different crew, tech anything, it's quite broad. We drill down some of them later. Ferdi: In general I don't know that much has changed in our industry. I mean, our industry has always been one that's been at the cutting edge.
, we've always been a very progressive, like when you think about, manufacturing issue, PR, the owners in the industry, the crews and the expectation of those crews, the vendors, suppliers, , there's so many aspects to this industry. It's like a 20 armed octopus. I think not much as in the general theme of things has changed. I mean we we're on the forefront with a lot of these boats with prototype stuff. I mean that's the challenge is is you got the latest, greatest tech. It doesn't always mean that it works. , you're the Guinea, you're the Guinea pig being the first guy to use it.
And then a lot of the time you're finding out the faults and stuff and again it even with a new build, though, they're gorgeous, they're beautiful. , the owners are proud. The yard's proud, all of that. But that new build. Probably irons out its bugs after about three years. I mean, so after three years of your brand new boat that you bought and you've been using it, you've now found, oh, that's why the AV doesn't work or that's why, , , stability was the noise here with these AC problem there, , and you iron out those bugs and then you start using then it's a good place to be so.
And then the guys are buying, let's say, in the second hand market, a boat that's been there, done that, had all those niggles taken out and as a reliable brand and that you can see some of good boats that have been around for. , even 50-60 years, , the old Fed ships and stuff like that, still a solid platform to operate with people who have taken meticulous care of them and spend a lot of money. But , so , I think, , as far as the general concept of the industry, I think we lead.
We lead the way in a lot of ways, and and it's taken that progression and I think the the insight where over the years a lot of even relating to crew and regulate regulatory things and all of that we've had to Create a yachting version of what was commercial shipping, because a lot of the same rules that applied, , maritime rules don't really. they don't fit yachting. So we've had to and that's why over the years we've seen a lot of rule changes. We've seen a lot of progression with these things. It is getting better for crew.
It has been a big focus on, , recently, I mean flavour of the month is mental health and and all of this stuff, which is important, which years previous, there's no consideration for that, contracts how contracts are structured for crew, how , benefits or incentives or anything like that, medical coverage or all the rest and how can we promote longevity and how can we, there's there's a lot of thought going into our industry at the moment.
And how we can improve and then from a, , an environmental point of view, obviously there's massive progression now on how boats are being constructed in the future, how we're looking at hybrid propulsion options and energy options and stuff like how we're moving away from fossil fuels And all the aim to reduce pollution and , impact of a lot of these things on the world. And so but , you work for the 1% of the 1%. So at the end of the day.
You've got a lot of. How could you say?
Got a lot of resources available to do things that normal people couldn't do, and a lot of people watch TV and watch below deck and go wow, that's amazing. Look at what these, , these crews are doing. These boats are doing and all that stuff, but it's not really a true reflection, it's a more Hollywood hyped version of the fun weekend, , on the water than what actually goes in behind the scenes. A lot of the time. And, , it is a professional arena.
, there's this great pride that goes into running These platforms and working for the people that we work for and a lot of the time, , I'm forced to sometimes remind crew of that, , we come into this and we are professionals, not backpackers, just spending a few months here and working for billionaires doesn't matter. , we need to have an understanding, a high level service. We need to have a Standing for working as an engineer on the most sophisticated bits of equipment that that are out there, , and how to keep them running. And that stuff. So many facets are going to.
But , I think our industry is very unique and I don't think it will change. I think it will. We'll always be buoyed by this, like progression the the need to have for the elites to have something that's unique and new and that no one else has. And , push those boundaries. And then as far as certification and stuff, it's going to always want to push your crew moving forward to to be trained up on things that that previous years you wouldn't have even needed a qualification these years. You'd need to have the ticket 1st and you need to go and.
Make sure that you have everything in that and and maintain that certification moving forward. If you want to work for the the top guys. Jim McGrath:
What three big challenges do you think superyacht industry needs to solve in the next, say, 10 years?
. That's a good question.. I don't know. I I sit on the fence with a lot of those things. I guess it's the. It's the perfect opportunity to tell the world how you really feel. But I feel at the same time, , that's not always something we we need to do. I I think regardless of what people's feelings are, , even despite them being really strong, , people have got opinions and all that. But regardless of the fact I think.
I think the industry itself hasn't got many major things plaguing it is that it's struggling with at the moment again with the resources it has and that the people that are in place everywhere through every facet of it seems that we find solutions daily to everything. And and that's that's fortunate position to be in there is. I guess certain challenges, but it's not an industry challenge necessarily. It could be a challenge that affects the industry and how do we get. We're building so many of these boats, , which is great for the people working in the industry but.
Like any industry, , there's experienced people leaving the industry and there's new people coming in. And how do you bridge that gap between the experience that you need and the quantity of that across the board? Because the boats are becoming bigger that they require? Buying, , bigger cruise qualification levels aren't changing, so you just need more resources. But the pool that we they're taking all these people from is still probably the same size and and again I think it's just a global trend at the moment.
We're gone are the days of where you had to put your head down and have a bit of grit and weather the storm, so to speak. It's too easy these days, I think to quit when The going gets tough. You just find something else that's easy, ? And so we see a lot of people jumping around and that's, , that's tough for owners because of course, they always the same quite quite often as they want to see the same faces. They want to step on board their boat and they don't want to see 20 different people every single time they come aboard the boat, ? So how do we retain good crew?
And again, how do we have crew that, , aren't too entitled? A lot of the time crew arrive and It's it's not what they can do for the owner. It's what the owner can do for the cruise. Bit of a different mindset these days. When I was young you'd you'd speak when spoken to you weren't, you weren't going to give an opinion because it it really didn't count. But again, it's just different periods, I guess. And and it's how we cross those those bridges. But , the challenge is there are it's an industry that's doing well and to buoyed on the success of of these owners so we've got billionaire owners.
His business is doing really well. Well, one guy instead of having one boat, he might have 5, but , the the resource pool that we're getting, the good crew from, so to speak, is is quickly diminishing and then the transfer I guess it will reach a point at some stage where.
There will be professional yahtzees, but we're going to have to start pulling people in and really started in some aspects from commercial shipping as in, not Ford facing people, but maybe like engineers or offices and stuff like that because we don't have that capability and and it takes time to train people Into our way of doing things, , which is very guest focused and service oriented and hospitality which there are some rough diamonds out there, you got to Polish them up a bit before they get them to the place where you need them right so. It can be done.
The downside is it takes time and we don't know if we have time, , like we're running out of time, so to speak, and everything's accelerating in the world. So it's the one thing that AI can't actually help us with at the moment is like the service industry.
For everything else, it seems to be doing quite good. , but until it can pour a cocktail and, , keep the boss happy, I guess that's what we will keep doing, ?
And so any trends in the design and tech that are affecting your day-to-day operations in recent years, well, the the headline design or tech things that are helping you out?. Ferdi: Well, again it's amazing actually how quickly we've got all these new things arriving into the industry and that the way of building a boat or the way of what are we going to put on the boat like years ago. it's frowned on today, but , years ago, unique animal skins for furniture, , people sitting on, , manta Ray, scale chair, that was something cool these days.
It's like you'd never be seen to do that because that's. It's bad,. So again, it's like I get it and but at the same time, , there's new. How can you say materials are being used are quite popular. Most builders these days are looking at how. They can build, , and it's not necessarily breaking the bank. You've got a high quality material you're using, but it's also environmentally friendly. , it's sustainable products. , one of the biggest challenges I think. Going back to your previous question, that yachting probably faces is running out of teak.
, how are we going to cross that boundary soon? And there's a lot of manufacturers coming out with new products. , like that can rival or or be used to substitute teak. But to be fair, there's really nothing better than teak. I think that everyone realises that of course teak takes so long to grow and all the rest, and , all the forests are chopped down. So that's very sad. But , those things are things that I'm sure we'll work out. But there have been some crazy advancements in the last few years and.
Again, it says it's overcoming those challenges that I think our our industry is very good at. There's very creative people in there how to be more efficient, how to be, , make these boats better, how to how to be, down to be Comfortable for guests, comfortable for crew and just work efficiently, , it's amazing actually to see a boat that's 50 years old versus one that's coming out this year. And it's like chalk and cheese. , the the technology, the technology is so advanced these days. And and the feedback that you can get is is incredible.
Like anything, I guess modern car that has to be plugged into a computer every single time. It's not so easy to repairs. The one that I will just top up the oil and get this old tracker back on the road thing. So pros and pros and cons, but obviously there's price differences too so. Jim McGrath:
What are the most challenging elements of your job? And do you think has, is that changed or is that pretty steady as well?
No, I mean, look. I guess human elements is always one of those things, but again, being in this service industry, our focus here is on relationships, it's on guests, it's on crew and so on. Building long term relationships with everyone and then down to people we use on a regular basis, but we supported A lot. , it's not a it's not a one man show. Whereas back in the day there probably wasn't a local, your agent and the captain had to go out on his own and do stuff. So there's agents now.
There's management companies, there's, , we've got a lot more in the way of coaching and training and all of the stuff. So. When the past you you're young and you got your job, you worked your way up, but no one actually taught you anything. You never got taught how to manage people. You never got taught how to, , interact necessarily. And so one day, you arrived on the scene, and you're a junior captain. You've really got none of the tools available to do the job you're doing, , so. Well guys, we're self-taught these days.
However, there is training that can be done and I think that's a massive difference and that's crossing that gap again where we can hopefully train people in time so that they are ready and capable, and and that's that's a huge benefit. even though we've got these challenges. We've got mass, massive, more resources than we used to have. Jim McGrath:. OK. Well, let's go on to the crew section then because that's probably that's quite a big thing that's coming up. So the big one then how are the new crew joining the industry today? How do they compare to previous years?
Are there any trends in skill set mindset outlook? You mentioned a few bits already, but. Ferdi:. I mean, I think the the new trend at the moment and I it's almost weird to to to mention it, but like I certainly don't believe that. People coming in these days have the same mindset or. I don't know. It's hard to put into words, but I guess we would come from a different era, , and it's maybe like me looking back and even with certain owners I'm dealing with or have dealt with, , they old school, they come from a different place,.
And yet we still expected to understand and be able to deal with them and and and keep them happy. So even though we're not the same age or even though we we never grew up like they did. , I was in a multi millionaire but understand the needs and wants of a millionaire or billionaire. These days, , we have to learn and adapt and have that mentality, but there's a lot of people coming in these days that maybe they don't look at it like it's a career. , where I always did. Maybe they look at, oh, I'm going to do this for a few months because my mate's doing it.
And then I'm not going to do it for longer. But , there's yachting has always been like that. It's always captures people. So you think you're going to go and do it for a short time and then suddenly you realise, hang on a minute. We're making loads of money. We haven't got many expenses. We're having a good time,. And so,. That's the fine line. Always is like. How do you draw the line between being a professional or someone that's coming along to have a good time?
And and that's the training again and and how the management, the crew and especially from a captain's perspective, how you can build good teams even with people that maybe don't have that experience, if you can. And train them a certain way and they they're receptive to that. But generally right now the problem of finding good crew is a challenge. Retaining good crew because again, there's so many options available to them.
And and , I think the challenge is people these days aren't showing the same levels of longevity as they used to show, , these days, one year is a long time, whereas back in the day, , you need at least five or six for it to be a long time.
And I think, , I think from an owner's perspective, a lot of the guys that we're working for aren't necessarily that, although there are some very young owners, they're also a lot older owners and the expectation of the old school is that you put your head down, you work hard and you'll get what's coming to you down the line, and you and you show that longevity. There's a thing. The general consensus these days just around the world is that, , everyone wants to be an Instagram influencer, , and have the easy route. And so if it gets a little bit tough, then Maybe we're not going to do that.
Maybe we'll go do something else and that's that's tough to to have people like that. , that doesn't make it easy. Jim McGrath:
What? Strategies help you retain high quality crew? What works for you keeping those?
. I think for me, it's always been a very similar approach I've taken. I tried to find like minded people that enjoy the same, , call it lifestyle or work balance work, life balance. Try to encourage an environment on board that's , pleasant and and free of conflict or animosity or that stuff. Trying to eradicate that straight away. I try to, , basically get everyone's buy in. On decision making.
So there's a lot of collaboration versus dictatorship and and empowering people to be responsible, giving them the opportunity to take on that responsibility and and explaining also the fact that they're contributing that like I can't Do their job for them. And , if they don't do their job, they let the team down. Not just me. And so it's not a one. Again, it's not a one man band.
We we all contribute and if they're not going to contribute, it's going to be them That'll be, , letting people down and ultimately, , that's the that's the thing that's a silent motivator, but no one wants to let anyone down. , you don't set out to do that. So I think that's a common thing. And I think if somebody gives you a chance that you'll try and do your best. You might not have the experience to do. You might get it wrong, but it's not necessarily getting it wrong. That's a problem. It's the willingness to learn. It's the willingness to not, , get bent out of shape and put you back up.
It's like, , own it. I didn't get it right this time, but I know now based on this experience I've had how I can get it right in the future, ? And then it said willingness to try again and and I think some of that has been lost, trying again, but for a lot of people's like Oh I'm not into that. I don't want to try again. , it's hard. It's like,. Well, it's hard because you don't know anything else, but , say to anyone, , like when you're in high school, there were a lot of things that were hard, like maths.
And then you look at yourself 10 years down the line, you're actually in a job and that and Actually, math seemed really easy then compared to what you're doing now,. So , it perspective and time, I think it's a, it's an amazing thing. I think most people will reflect back on things and go I know I was moaning about it then, but it wasn't actually that bad, , and or or or maybe it was and you're like, what? I worked really hard and I and I I knew I didn't want to be there in that in that place.
And I try to progress myself so that to look at me today and I've made it and everything is good and Glad of what I've achieved, that thing. So , crew crew have always been, , one of the parts of my job that I've really enjoyed. I've really enjoyed trying to build good teams. I've really enjoyed trying to encourage people to do better and and develop themselves,. Where they thought they were coming in for a few months on the backpacker trip.
Suddenly the guy's a professional chief officer four years later and he's like coming to me and saying thank you for for spending the time you did with me, , and and, , encouraging me along the way. I never thought I'd do that. And, , and so that's that rewarding When those things happen. Jim McGrath: Have you got any other examples of mentoring and that approach? Oh, if yourself or or let's say you just mentioned you've done that. Ferdi:. Well, I mean, it's quite funny you mentioned that actually it was a young deckhand. I worked for me years ago.
British Lad, and ironically, this year, he got nominated as Chief Officer of the Year for the ACREW awards, and and so it's funny because , we were chatting just the other day and he's like you said to me it's like, what, I never thought I'd get nominated. And it's it's great, ?
And you said but , I always look back those times that we shared together, that was the beginning when I got those first encouragement steps with you and then I went down and I worked under other people and they they gave me the same opportunities, , they were always trying to help me and those things they really stuck with him through his career and he's done really well and, I'm certainly proud to be part of that process. But , he's gone on to be great and he'll be a great captain one day, , he's got all the traits I said it to him.
Then when he was a deckhand, I said you've you've got all this potential. You might not see it right now, but You're a great peoples person. You get on with everyone you're organised, you you. I can see you've got a lot of this now. You just got to develop it and this is how and try and show them the way how to work on those things, to be better in every area.. Jim McGrath: Nice. That's awesome. OK, let's move on to guests and owners then.
Any examples where you've managed, like, special unexpected guest requirements that walk in the line between saying yes or when you had to just be like that's not possible. Ferdi: I mean, it's always a challenge we, , in our industry try not to say no and if you if you do look it's not so you can't say no. I've had a lot of respect from principals, charters or even owners where. I've I've said no, they've said go and do this and the weather's been bad and I said well, it to be fair, we're not going to do that.
And and these are the reasons why it's not that I'm saying no to you, but you might not have considered that when we go around the corner from this very sheltered Bay, you don't see the weather that's outside there. And not only will it be uncomfortable, but it's probably going to be unsafe and you and your family will be affected by that. And so when they've, like, again, been shown that stuff like, Oh , no, of course. , what were we thinking thing and. And thank you for that. Thank you for making us aware of that.
So , I mean look, we always trying to aim safety as a main priority and taking care of people. I mean, that's again part of that service that we give on board the boat and being at sea, it's obviously can be a high risk place in certain conditions. I mean, we've had a few incidents over the years, even the Bayesian sailboat disaster and all of that stuff, which are freak accidents. But then looking back at, like, the investigation reports and that it's clear to see that there was some things that didn't go right or shouldn't have been done all of that stuff.
But , on the side of tough requests, , a lot of the time, , people are coming to the boats to enjoy themselves. , there might be drinking and all that stuff. So it becomes tough when you Negotiate or or, , protect the people from themselves, so to speak, without coming across in a way that further frustrates them, or maybe gets the backup. But, , , challenges are always like that. And I guess it's like learning to be diplomatic, learning to to show them the options that are good options, good choices to take.
I always like to have them make the choices at the end of the day, I don't want to dictate anything to to an owner or guess, but I feel like them having all the information that they could mak, an informed decision that they really appreciate and and normally will make the right one. , I don't think I've ever had an incident where owners have turned around and , said no, absolutely not. We disagree. And we're going to do it this way and you just. But it's like any relationship.
And again, people that I've had the fortune of working for, we've always maintained, that our relationship would be based on honesty and being open despite news maybe being Not good news. , there'll be days where you you're shooting it straight and you're like, look, the generator broke. It wasn't planned. And , yes, it's affected your trip. We're going to have to stay on the dock instead of going to see the three other islands we're planning to do. And yes, you're upset, but at least we can do these things and try and keep you happy and we'll get it fixed as soon as we can.
So , , they're these guys have lots of money. Sometimes they're quite demanding in the sense of like, oh, I want to go to this restaurant and it's here. But it's New Year's in Saint Barts. , you've got to book this three months in advance. Let me try. Let me try, but I can't guarantee you it and sometimes you win and you get the booking and you're the hero and other times you don't. And that's that's OK too, because we'll get it done. , we all learn even then that we sometimes have to plan in advance, but it's not like they weren't going to have a good time. We're still on the boat.
We still can have a good time. We just make a good time here instead of that. Jim McGrath:.
do you see any trends with the new generations of Ultra High net worths or younger, are they super yachting in the same way?
. No, I think there's a trend now in new owners. Look, I don't know, it seems the recent years there's been a there's been a trend for people to explore more. I think and I don't know whether that's based on the areas that were cliche or. The usual stomping grounds have become so busy and so congested if you will, that it's almost feeling a bit uncomfortable. They're they're obviously these guys that like to, , show off as much as the next person. Here's my new toy or I'm in the club or I'm, , at the restaurant or whatever. And they like to be seen.
But there's also people that as much as they like to do that also like to maybe see something new. And the there's been a lot of new cruising boats going to places that, , super kiosk going to places that Superios never went to before and and the owners are seeing that this this is a platform that you can use. You can travel around the world, you can have all these luxuries and still be in a very remote area. Enjoying what? Maybe the usual riffraff aren't enjoying , you can have it all to yourself, , and these these pros and cons to everything.
But, , I I see that there has been a lot more cruising, certainly through the Pacific. There's been quite an upturn in that, Asia, , up north I think is , Sweden and around those areas cruising up that Norway and that stuff that's become quite popular. And so , it seems like people are getting out and about, and trying to use their boats differently and that's that's quite refreshing. Because it's it's giving again the opportunity for crews to see something different. , if you've done the milkman so to speak, the mid Caribbean for 15 years, it's starting to get a bit stale.
the fact that you might go somewhere new is very exciting to a lot of people. Jim McGrath: OK, let's move on to regs and sustainability, then. What do you think about this this mounting regulatory load or , more compliance, the regulations that were that were there already and how are you managing that? Ferdi: Look, I think, , I think, , look, we don't notice it a lot on bigger boats, I guess because the crew sizes mean that we can delegate quite a lot, but there's certain sizes that the regulations are the same for everyone, right.
So whether you're an 80 metre or 90 metre with 40 crew on it versus A50 metre or even A45 with 9, that's the regulation still the same. So the 9 crew boat. Those guys are having to do the same amount of paperwork, but with much less resources, and so that's why it can be quite challenging for them. But the big birds, no, you've got loads of people who delegate. You do this, you do this, you do this, you spread the load and off you go.
And I think , that's the benefit of having for certain depends on the size and the operation, what it's doing, but for certain vessels, the backup of a management company to assist with that is like having extra crew right to have a yacht manager that can help with this stuff. And so rather than taking it on a loan, which can be tough and daunting given given. Everything else you expected to do to , deliver service, move the boat, maintain the boat, do this, do that and the mountain of everything else. It is useful. And so my recommendation always has been..
Find yourself a good management company that can support you. I can work together with you. Take care of your owner and spread that load. But the regulations are there for purpose, , like our industry, unfortunately, or maritime industry is not being one that's been proactive. We've always been reactive. The only time regulation comes in is because we've had an accident. So we've, , and it's that's all the way from Titanic. So it's it's it's just the way it has been now does it have to be like that in the future? No, we can progress that too. But , there are a lot of new regulations and again.
We're at the forefront of it. , there's no commercial ships that have lithium ion batteries on them for E foils. Where's yachting? Here we are. And. Oh, shit. How do we charge these? Why are there so many fires these days? Where are we storing them? , all that stuff. So. We lead the way in many aspects, but we're also leading the way in the the first accident that we had with that stuff, ?. So it is good. We do progress. But , a lot of these things, it's hard to stay on the forefront of the regulation, before the thing has even been used. So there's that challenge, right?
So you will learn from experience. But , I think that the regulations are necessary and it does mean that there's a set of rules, there's structure and especially for us, sometimes it can feel like it's a bit over the top and certain areas to cruise are very difficult. Certain countries, local rules, , it's like a spider's web. And then other countries are very pro yachting The yachts in them for many years and they understand the needs of the boats and the owners and and what that brings to the country.
But some are at the infant stage and they don't know and they're actually shooting themselves in the foot and they're making it really difficult and they're discouraging boats to come there, which of course once the boat comes, it brings to that local economy so much, , whether it's from a provisioning point of view or maintenance point of view or a supplier point of view just getting, , supplies and stuff like that spares.
That's always been the challenges is like those areas are generally not suited to yachts, and yet yachts are starting to go there and we are growing those spaces, but they're still governed by a lot of old, dated, antiquated rules, right? That normally present more hazards Or challenges to being there. And so , prior planning and long term planning goes into making those trips a success. you can't do it. Just add one. if you've got to put in the time. Jim McGrath:
What about environmental regs then? Do you see them affecting the future of yachting seriously or is it, , more of the same so?
Look, we're not burning heavy fuel here so and and the the new trend is certainly this minimising discharges raining in any sorts of pollution. The engine and manufacture of engines , , emissions, certifications and all of that stuff. That's that's something that's been raised over the years. , it's getting more and more scrutinised and , we're very high level. And again, I think we'll probably be at the forefront. It's like Formula One.
the people that take part in that those developers of those high end cars, well, a lot of the things they they put into that years down the line come into actual automotive thing, so The the concept of hybrid cars. Well, that was first tested and trialled in Formula One and it's been there for years and now we're seeing it in our daily, , regular cars that we buy for ourselves, , so it's the same thing for yachting. I think a lot of the things that are Tested and trialled and and then seemed to be a success.
Maybe in yachting will then philtre down into the other maritime sides of things, so it's positive.. And I think the trend is, , looking at because we have the resources, we've got these owners with the money, why shouldn't we be the people making a difference and leading? With example, leading leading the charge, so to speak of like how it should be done correctly. Jim McGrath:.
Are there any changes in terms of sustainability that you see that aren't necessarily happening or being invested in now?
.. Well, that's one thing to say a machine Can sustain and all that and and certainly they can develop that, , we can use materials that are more sustainable. But I think the sustainability of the building, all these these boats. But I don't see There'll probably be a progressive might, maybe a progression like the automotive industry had again, where the use of like robotics and stuff like that will will complete. A lot of these build because but there's certain aspects that are like the bespoke aspects, the fitting of the high end interiors. That can only be done by humans.
However, we're not seeing, , you're coming to the end with a lot of these companies where their workforce of highly skilled trained carpenters and plumbers and all the guys that have been fitting out these boats well. They're getting to the end of their careers and instead of 100 more carpenters coming in, there's only 10 because the other 90 want to be Instagram influences. So what I'm saying? So we should, we're going into a different realm with a lot of this stuff and I see there being some challenges in the coming years with that. It is an interesting time.
It's like it's like the saying goes, what a time to be alive. It's like, , we're going to see and watch and we'll probably see how we overcome that. It will be. It'll be interesting. And I'm, I'm sure that we'll overcome it, but it's how and and how long will it take. But , it, like I said, we're building in our industry the highest spec floating , machine and yet we're losing the manpower that know how to do that. It's it's quite interesting when you start considering that,. Jim McGrath:.
on to tech and security and innovation. What or how has increasing tech integration changed your role as a captain?
. quite a fair bit, I mean like and this has been for some years, but I mean like the progression from let's say paper charts to a completely a paperless bridge, people, the older school style of captains, this will never work and. But in fact, , a lot of these things have been great. They've been, it's made things a lot easier for operations.
It's also enabled things like updating to have the latest information shown on the Hit the button download and you've got your updated thing gone are the days of your your pencil with your stencil and the tracing paper and you're drawing on the chart thing.
So , although I don't, I don't think that we should lose that completely and certainly for training purposes I think it's Important to understand that for any officers and stuff moving up, but , there's been major tech advantages over the years and it's it's it's made it I think safer and and also Easier to operate, , and it's saying it's freeing us in the sense of, , you're not restricted as much as you used to be these days. And it's it's it's helping. It's a helping thing. So I think it's necessary and I think , hopefully it'll continue that way.
Way too tech is definitely helping throughout the world at the moment, and how quickly things are getting pushed along, especially now with this new development of AI and everything else, I think we're going to start seeing that everywhere. it's going to, it's going to speed things up. It can't do everything, but it's certainly going to help in certain spaces, , it's going to progress us massively, so that's great. Jim McGrath:.
cybersecurity then that's increasingly problematic. What are your thoughts? Protecting the yacht data. Guest data from threats or what are you, what you're doing?
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I mean, , so I mean again, it's how you manage that, I guess it's what data are you keeping is one of the ones if it's super sensitive, should we be keeping it on the open network?
And people could have network to it, could have access to it. Probably not. But , like I guess it's like anything these things have become so tech orientated. All the boats are connected to the Internet these days, mostly by Starlink.. We have in place again on them firewalls and VPNs and all the rest to try and protect, but importance is, , if if you don't have that skill set or whatever, it's a good it's a good time to invest in. Cybersecurity company or or an expert as an IT expert who has that like background that could assist and support?
Because again, in most crew wouldn't have that high level of of understanding of those things. And and , once it's set up right, of course it doesn't matter what device comes onto the boat and joins to that network, it's going to be secure. Now if you if you're trying to stop information getting out, I guess even down to like photos and stuff like that, then it's just a policy thing on board. What is acceptable? What is not and even down to like the guest thing?
I mean, from a safety point of view, depending on where you're cruising, you might not want to be letting people know where you are, , especially if you're high profile. And so , our industry has always been based on discretion. And understanding and and and again the care of care of some of these people that we entrusted to. So we have to have the correct training if we're going to do the best job. And so , we can't expect people that are unqualified or don't have an understanding of things like that.
To then be leading that charge, so to speak, , so , it's a tough one and again the cyber security thing is I see it more and more like it's it's it's a threat and some people that have been caught out, spending with phishing type of things where bank accounts or getting, , an emails in and they're paying bills and suddenly it's a fake company of the lost all this money and all the rest. Like that stuff is more and more these days. But it's also in every industry. So , we've got to stay with the times. , we've got to stay current.
We've got to train ourselves and the crews and and again be supported by the correct management. for those things. Jim McGrath:
last section then public perception, do you have any concerns about the misinformation online about super yachts and what goes on?
I mean, not to the point where I'm actually going to necessarily do anything about it or voice my concerns, because me, it's like I think I think there's so much of that these days. , the term fake news, so to speak or click bait or it doesn't matter what. There's so much of it. And like, I think we're entering that realm again with a lot of the social media stuff and and all the rest where , how do we know what is true? How do we know is there, like again, the AI generated image or the person speaking or even the model on Instagram that you'll see well, it's not real.
So and it's and it's becoming so real, so to speak that it's hard to distinguish between truth or not. So again, I guess fact checking that stuff, but it's a it's a rabbit hole, it's a it's a downward spiral. You start getting into that and you can spend hours and hours in it. So to be fair, it's like, , he's trying to stay focused, but it is it is one of those things where the perception of public, I don't think, I don't think they'll ever really understand.
like the the public are going to perceive super yachting a certain way, and there's probably nothing we're going to do to change that other than, maybe have another below deck, a competition, a below deck too, but , it's always been an intriguing space. it's like Hollywood. People always fascinated with with actors. They're fascinated with movies and like all these things. So yachting, , high end, , people living in a high end lifestyle for the mere mortals like you and I that is fascinating. , I I do. I even me.
That I'm intrigued now just because I'm intrigued doesn't mean that necessarily anything happens. what I mean? It's not going to change them. It's not going to change them. It's not going to change their lifestyle. Is it going to change or affect your team? Probably not. So , I guess it's just one of those things that You can put as much time into it as you want, but a perception sometimes is a difficult thing to change. Jim McGrath:.
Well, in terms of like the online space in forums and stuff, obviously, like, super useful if you're an engineer and you need to know how your engine works and they've Changed a little bit now and the name and shame things. , what's your experience or thoughts about all these things? Ferdi: I mean, I'm I'm I am person, that is. I'm put it this way part of a lot of WhatsApp groups. I spend time on forums. I don't contribute a lot but I'm certainly on them and I'm seeing what's going on on them and again. Try to stay current in every aspect of everything, because it's part of my job.
But , , back in the day, people didn't have the soapbox to go and stand on to voice an opinion. These days, you can do that wherever you like. That's wrong or right or whatever.. So, so to speak. There are pros and cons to everything. I think information exchange is great when it's beneficial to everyone when it's not and it's been used to in a malicious way. I don't think it's great, ? And so it's it is what it is. I think it's starting to keep people honest, , especially when it comes to things like abuse or harassment or and then that thing.
Like, that's something that shouldn't be allowed anywhere. And and again, even things like fraud or theft or whatever. , if we can protect ourselves and each other and our owners from any threat then. And and the forum gives us that. Then that's great, or or the group gives us that where people are sharing in a way that's helping, , in a way that's that's a collaboration of in in a helpful way then that's fantastic. But as if you're collaborating as a how can you say a terrorist group that that would not be good?
, it's like so if we're planning the next attack, then that would not be a great thing. So , , I think it's there's pros and cons to everything. But I I believe like a lot of these groups got created with good intent and there are good people on them. There's some people that spend a lot of time talking on the group, , sometimes wonder what they're actually doing, I guess, shouldn't you be back at work? Why are you still talking? But , some people maybe have more time than me for that thing, but it was always interesting.
It always gives you again information, sometimes ahead of the curve, which can be beneficial. So , here's where is. Jim McGrath:
if you could change one thing about the modern yachting industry, what would it be and why?
Hmm.. One thing. Well, I guess. I guess if it was a magic wand and I could create and I could, I could change the way. Crew approach yachting like especially newcomers and all of that. I I would like to see. Determined more discernment, more professional crew, and maybe that's the thing that's needs to be changed at a grassroots level. Maybe that's something that needs to be spoken about more in training and and lead up training. So we do training on STCW and safety and stuff, and that's like a. A basic requirement and an Eng.
1 to get into the industry and start working, but maybe we should have a minimum training there of of also because we're entering this professional realm, so to speak, on how to be a professional, how to interact. Groups had to be in front of people and what the expectation is down the line because I think , building longevity, building those things, that's that's important and it has been important for owners. It's been important for even people working. Yarding, , management companies, their employees or vendors and that stuff.
But the common theme at the moment around the world is it's easy to quit and we've got lots of options. And the other thing is people are enabling that. So if it was frowned upon by everyone, then it wouldn't happen, right? But because we're allowing it because we're allowing it to happen and then it's sometimes hard to go back and point the finger because, oh, , I just hired someone who's just jumped from that boat, says let that captain down, but I've hired them. And I'm thinking, oh, this is great, but then that person does exactly the same thing and leaves and goes to another boat. So,.
Who's to blame him? Who's to blame? So I think if we all looked at certain topics like this and we took a stand against those things that that aren't benefiting us or the industry. I think we could, we could do it. it's it's going to be a team effort. But to do some of the stuff alone is quite tough. , and it's a lot of. It's like a mindset, a mindset thing and A and a almost like a set of beliefs. It's like it's Morales for yachting, ? It's it's. It's like, what do we actually believe in? What is what is core to our business model, if you will or our outlook as as as this.
As the industry leaders, how do we want to drive ourselves, teams and all of that stuff? So , I would say that that'd probably be the one thing I'd change. I think it'd be a positive change. I think everyone would benefit from it. I think especially owners also, but everyone could benefit from that.