Couach Shipyard

COUACH SHIPYARD

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COUACH SHIPYARD

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PROFILE

Couach Shipyard remains ever buoyant with a strong order book and a recently revamped shipyard promoting better organisational flow. Alexis Philandrianos, Sales and Strategy Director, sits down with Andy Probert for a recap of the last 18 months for the French boat builder, and the story behind developing a technological and ecological evolution – a ‘green’ hull.

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he engineers, naval architects and technicians of Couach Shipyard are noted for pushing back technological barriers. The luxury vessel, military and rescue boat builder in Arcachon Bay, close to Bordeaux, confirmed this position with the world’s first unit equipped with a 26m hull entirely molded in bio-sourced ‘green’ resin composite.

In partnership with Sicomin, one of its long-standing partners, the company has concluded four years of research with the realisation of a select bio-sourced epoxy resin to meet the main requirement: a first step towards the use, then the generalisation of this technology to green ships.

World-first This resin comprises about 38% of products from renewable and vegetable resources, replacing synthetic products from petrochemicals, said Alexis Philandrianos, Couach’s Sales and Strategy Director.

In maintaining its reputation for hulls that offer a formidable passage at sea and unparalleled sailing comfort, its engineers

have built the bio-sourced epoxy resin hull on a new Fly 86/2600 model.

“The consequences of this development, namely weight saving, resistance, consumption and durability, make this yacht a real technological and ecological evolution,” attested Mr Philandrianos.

While striking a balance between comfort, safety, and performance, this addition follows the refined and dynamic design that is the hallmark of a long line of Couachbuilt yachts.

With two guest cabins and two crew cabins, the 86/2600 can accommodate up to nine guests and three crew. Along with top-of-the-line luxury and ergonomic lines, the yacht is the only one in its category equipped with a garage that accommodates a 395 dinghy, a jet ski, bicycles, surfboards, SEABOB and an area for diving equipment.

The vessel was handed over to a private European owner in early 2022, and feedback has been “very positive,” reported Mr Philandrianos. It again underscores the company’s portfolio of fleet options that evolve in delivering highly sophisticated vessels of exceptional technological performance while being lighter, smaller and faster.

He added: “This hull helps to reduce our carbon footprint. It was very challenging for us as we had to change the way of doing things and re-learn processes, but the result was a fantastic looking vessel. The bio-sourced epoxy resin has better mechanical characteristics than traditional resin and is more durable.”

Improving workflows, evolving orders Mr Philandrianos reflected: “While we are handling an order intake of over €200 million, we needed to reorganise our facilities and processes in 2021, and this is what we achieved. When handling large numbers of vessels – 22 on one contract and 12 on another – it is essential to be efficient.

“All the work we did in our industrialisation processes has improved workflows immeasurably. Now we are in full delivery mode.”

The period reflects one of the most productive eras in the company’s 125-year history. On the naval front, Couach Shipyard is concluding a five-year maintenance contract following the 2016-2018 delivery of 79 17m interceptor boats for Saudi Arabia’s coastal protection authority.

The interceptors were built with composites based on Couach’s 1650 FIC design. With inboard diesel propulsion with waterjets or surface propellers, they can exceed 60 knots and exceed 250 miles at cruising speed.

Couach is presently building a further twelve 22m patrol boats for Saudi Arabia.

This momentum will be carried on with a three-year maintenance contract for these boats from 2022 to 2025 via a local company established in the Kingdom.

The company is also mid-way through a contract for Oman to deliver 22, 14m interceptors, with a view to completing the fleet order by 2023. “Patrol boats and interceptors offer enormous business opportunities for Couach, and we’re delighted

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COUACH SHIPYARD

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PROFILE

to continue working alongside clients to bring these contracts to fruition,” said Mr Philandrianos.

Its 10-year programme to replace 140 rescue vessels for Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM), the French sea rescue organisation, is also gaining traction.

The shipyard landed the contract to help define the range structure of SNSM’s future nautical resources. Partly financed by the French Government, the phased schedule will cover vessels in five subcategories, ranging from 6m to 17m, and replace several 1980s built all-weather canoes.

“This is a very challenging programme as SNSM has a lot of stations and different needs. Vessel requirements in the Mediterranean will not be the same on the Atlantic Coast,” said Mr Philandrianos.

Couach, allied with architects Frédéric Neuman and Christophe Barreau and with SNSM, co-developed a boat that could meet all these diverse demands and needs.

“We built one boat that was perfect for everybody, but adapted to the mission of saving lives.”

The company is now testing the first boat, a 17m vessel, which is expected to be deployed to a rescue station in 2022.

The schedule foresees at least 70 boats, with a view to more in the future, while the contract’s minimum value is estimated to be around €50 million.

New vessels, R&D development The new 17m vessel has provoked interest from other voluntary lifesaving societies across Europe. One Danish organisation

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has ordered a similar vessel, which is now under construction.

Couach remains busy on the R&D front, continually optimising and improving its fleet, such as the interceptor range being compacted to 12-14m, and a 17m option, with more systems and defence solutions.

Mr Philandrianos said the company was in discussions with potential clients to use some of their existing platforms, such as 22m or 28m, incorporate more systems and enhance them beyond being a patrol boat.

“We are looking at taking a small platform and integrating many sensors in CMS and making a very smart transition.

We are promoting this idea, and clients have been largely receptive to that.”

He said: “We are also looking at the mine warfare sector, by taking a simple platform, integrating several solutions, and enabling a compact vessel to undertake such missions.

We continue to upscale the vessel and dare to do what our peers don’t.”

The company’s commercial options primarily sit between 23-42m, with hybrid propulsion, optimised hulls, lower fuel consumption and smarter systems. Couach can also build yachts up to 50m for specific clients.

Its 42m Lounge series hybrid superyacht comes with low energy consumption and a conversion system that generates electricity from the vessel’s movement. It is expected to become increasingly popular as more environmental-conscious customers enter the market.

Performance prediction modelling, hull performance, and hybrid propulsion and

defence solutions are also being created as the company continues to transition in an ever-evolving market.

“Environmental concerns are always a key priority,” said Mr Philandrianos.

“Hybrid power, a mix of diesel and electric, and even hydrogen are under consideration. We will focus even more on R&D and continue to develop new solutions. For example, the bio-sourced resin will change how we work and help us minimise our carbon footprint.”

Plans for the next one to three years are to promote new vessels offering multiple systems, continue with its localisation of services, and to raise the Couach brand image further by adding to its established list of international clients.

“We have also developed a 12m boat that can be easily transferred for production to other nations,” added Mr Philandrianos. “We have signed Memorandums of Understanding with two nations in Asia and the Middle East to do this, which will enable us to continue with our customer development.”

Planets aligning Mr Philandrianos added that Couach’s development has also led to the business taking on more skilled people, thanks to agreements with schools and universities for operators to engineers. It has also

developed and adapted its own academy to integrate more workers into production lines and offers greater flexibility as part of its continued expansion.

While challenges remain in maintaining quality, meeting orders on time, and remaining committed to contracts, Mr Philandrianos added: “We have to continue to find new ideas that make customers want us more than the competition.

That’s why we are investing heavily in more R&D to make things smarter and smoother.”

He added: “The fact that we are doing both military and yachts is very interesting.

On the military side, we focus on large numbers, while on the other, it is always a one-off vessel design.

“We have to maintain production flexibility and adapt to customers’ needs. This is what interests the clients. We can do exactly what they want us to do. A military customer knows we can design and build many units they require to their specifications. Having teams in the locality is priceless for them in the long-run. When we sell a boat, we sell our support and service capabilities.”

He concluded: “These last 10 to 15 years have seen a lot of changes at Couach, but now we are heading in the same direction. The future is bright. All the planets are aligning quite nicely, and we want to achieve more.”n

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