AWARDS 2025 | Best Large Tour Boat – Autrement – Nova Shipyard

This modern, all-aluminium tour boat delivered to a French operator by Nova Shipyard of Turkey features a deliberate yacht-inspired aesthetic and emphasis on passenger comfort.

The exterior profile transcends typical passenger boat design, while noise- and vibration-reducing measures, including class S propellers, ensure a smoother, quieter experience. The vessel is also hybrid-ready, engineered for future conversion to electric motors and batteries.

This combination of elegant design, operational efficiency, and forward-looking sustainability makes Autrement a standout asset for coastal passenger services in Brittany.

"Autrement is special because she brings together three elements that are not often delivered in one package: workboat-grade robustness, yacht-like exterior design, and a genuine sustainability mindset," Genco Yener, Founder and CEO of Nova Shipyard, told Baird Maritime.

From the outset, Erwan Geffroy, the owner of Armor Navigation, wanted a vessel that would look and feel more refined than a conventional passenger craft.

"It was an ambitious brief, and together with our designer, we delivered it not only through the exterior lines, but also through yacht-standard fairing and a yacht paint system," Yener remarked. "This is a major differentiator for a commercial vessel operating daily."

The vessel was also developed with what Yener said is an emphasis on future impact. She therefore features solar panels to ensure operation in a more environmentally responsible way, and these will complement a hybrid-ready arrangement that would allow the operator to incorporate further electrification if it so desires.

Yener explained that the work on Autrement was "an enjoyable challenge" as opposed to having difficulties.

"It was rewarding to deliver something so elegant without compromising the fundamentals of a dependable commercial passenger vessel. Of course, there were challenging topics. In practice, we built a pleasure-craft level finish on a workboat platform."

According to Yener, the latter meant balancing aesthetics with long-term maintainability, production discipline, and the realities of daily operation. For instance, a yacht-standard fairing and paint require a different level of surface preparation, environmental control, sequencing and inspection compared to typical commercial finishing, and it must still remain service-friendly for the operator.

"The key lesson was that success depends on early alignment and strict interface control between the owner, the designer, the yard, suppliers, and class, especially when you combine commercial robustness with a yacht-quality exterior and future-ready systems," said Yener. "As with any aluminium vessel, disciplined weight management was also essential, and we achieved a very successful outcome."

The weight management Yener mentioned has been regarded as a contributor to efficiency, which he believes is currently the strongest market driver in shipbuilding along with ensuring low fuel consumption.

"Operators are focused on reducing operating costs and emissions at the same time," he told Baird Maritime. "We therefore see a growing preference for lightweight solutions, especially aluminium passenger vessels, because weight reduction directly supports lower fuel burn and improved overall performance."

Yener explained that in parallel, decarbonisation requirements are increasingly influencing specifications, even before such requirements become fully mandatory on every route. He said this is why future-ready solutions such as hybrid-ready, hybrid, electric and diesel/electric designs with improved energy management are becoming more common among newbuilding projects.

"Finally, compliance and public expectations around passenger safety, accessibility, and comfort continue to rise, particularly for EU-aligned operations. Noise and vibration reduction, wake management, and operational documentation quality are also gaining importance, especially for vessels operating in sensitive coastal and tourism-focused areas.

"From our perspective, this efficiency trend is a strong strategic advantage: Nova Shipyard specialises in aluminium construction, and we see the increased adoption of aluminium passenger vessels as a very positive direction for the industry and for our capability set."

Yener said that because of this growing demand for aluminium passenger vessels, 2025 saw the market shift, "from 'just availability' toward higher specification and higher accountability," as operators want vessels that are efficient, compliant, and future-ready while still remaining commercially practical to run and maintain.

"For us, business remained strong, with continued demand in passenger vessels and an increasing volume of discussions around hybrid and diesel-electric solutions, plus export-driven projects that require class, documentation quality, and disciplined project management. Compared to the previous few years, expectations are sharper, and schedule reliability, transparency, and lifecycle value matter more than ever."

Yener added that Nova Shipyard is therefore optimistic, partly because owners are investing again and the global energy transition is creating a new cycle of fleet renewal especially for short-sea passenger operations.

"Overall, we see the passenger vessel industry as promising over the coming years, because many operators will need to renew their fleets with vessels that have lower emissions, consume less fuel, offer higher passenger comfort, and remain reliable throughout their lifecycle.

"In that context, we expect a continued shift toward low fuel consumption as well as lightweight and high-speed aluminium passenger vessels. Lightweight aluminium construction, optimised hull forms, and efficient propulsion packages will be increasingly decisive, because they directly reduce fuel burn and improve operational efficiency while maintaining performance."

Importantly, aluminium also poses a strong advantage from a lifecycle and total cost of ownership perspective, according to Yener. Beyond the immediate fuel savings from reduced weight, operators will benefit from a structure that supports long service life, strong corrosion performance when correctly specified and maintained, and high maintainability and repairability—all of which improve availability and reduce lifetime operating risk.

"In parallel, practical decarbonisation will accelerate through solutions such as hybrid-ready or battery-ready platforms, shore power capability, and smarter energy management—allowing operators to reduce emissions step-by-step as infrastructure and technology mature," Yener said.

"Finally, the market will place even greater value on passenger experience and lifecycle performance: lower noise and vibration, better onboard flow and accessibility, reduced wake in sensitive coastal areas, and maintainability-focused engineering that keeps a vessel dependable and available year after year."

With the increasing value placed on such improvements, the Turkish workboat industry is being primed to gain a greater foothold among overseas markets, as Yener explained.

"We believe the Turkish workboat industry is heading into a stronger and more internationally competitive phase, supported by a combination of structural advantages and an increasingly engineering-led approach.

"The country's geographic position is a major benefit, particularly for European operators. In addition to being closer to the operational markets, Turkey offers a very strong ecosystem: a skilled workforce, a mature shipbuilding sector, and a well-developed marine supply chain. This combination allows Turkish yards to offer more challenging delivery schedules and competitive pricing, while maintaining quality and class compliance."

Yener remarked that Turkey also provides a strong logistical advantage for European projects. The logistics of European-sourced equipment are simpler and faster, and delivering or transferring a vessel from Turkey to Europe is more straightforward than from Far East build locations. This reduces schedule risk, lowers total logistics cost, and helps operators bring the vessel into service sooner.

Proximity also makes it easier for European clients to visit the shipyard during construction, attend key inspections and milestone tests, and maintain close alignment throughout the project.

"Looking ahead, the yards that will lead the next phase will be those investing in repeatable processes, stronger project management, traceable quality systems, and deeper integration with class and international design partners," Yener told Baird Maritime.

"We also expect the acceleration of hybrid and diesel-electric readiness becoming more common across multiple segments, greater specialisation in aluminium and high-speed craft with tighter weight control and performance verification, and increased digitalisation in configuration control, documentation discipline, and after-delivery support models aligned with international operator expectations."

Yener believes that overall, Turkey is strengthening its position as a reliable, competitive, and increasingly sophisticated partner for international operators seeking modern, efficient, regulation-compliant workboats.

For a list of the 2025 "Best Of" award winners, please click here.