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The Mediterranean Sea can be taken as a good example of the advantage of people transportation by water, in order to reduce pollution. This is mainly due to historical reasons, in fact the ashore private transportation along coasts of Italy, France, Spain, Slovenia, Croazia etc, has been developed during centuries on the basis of Roman Empire roads, and furtherly with development of railways, offering basically 2 different ways of transport. But recent solutions and studies shows the possibility to give a significant contribution to the reduction of emissions by the use of appropriate vessels. In fact, the present generation of propulsion system in marine application, and the developments of hybrid propulsion, with new technologies for batteries, makes possible to build a vessel with a significant reduction of pollution. The author, after studying also, as a benchmark, the transportation used on main Italian Lakes, and using his experience with other vessel, also hydrofoil and fast vessels, consider a case study of transportation applied to Ligurian an Tirrenic sea, by the use of a fleet of fast vessels, capable to carry 350-400 passengers at an average speed of 22-24 knot, comparing the fuel consumption and the cost of each vessel with the average capability and price of a train and comparing the fuel consumptions of the vessels with the total amount of fuel used by the amount of private cars used to move the same amount of people. The study takes in consideration also the average sea condition, to demonstrate that especially in the area considered, a similar service can guarantee a long-term usage. The result of the study shows how is possible to adopt a significant benefit for the environment, due the possibility now offered to use e-fuels, or green fuels, to reduce the ashore facilities, no need of bridges, tunnels, road etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of the environment is surely the last frontier in the project for Naval Architects, as the new materials allow us to dare using complex shapes, open spaces, very appealing lines but the challenge is to match the increase in size of the modern mega yacht, who are often Ships of 90-100-120 meters and over, with the environmental protection and the capability for these enormous 'toys' to travel everywhere especially in the most suggestive corners of the planet respecting the air, sea and earth. The IMO, International Maritime Organization, has published new rules, effective for Yacht with "Keel laid" after 1 January 2016, defining the new standard IMO TIER III. Those new Rules will be effective in order to reduce the NOx pollution of more than 70% compared with the previous TIER II, and this is surely a very important goal, but as Designer of the yacht we have to face a problem: the engine has basically been the same since the end of 19th century, as for diesel cycle, we can make changes, adopt new devices, increase combustion efficiency, but the engines are still the same. So, Naval architects have co-operated with mechanical engineers to install on board the most modern engines, in order to respect the new rules, but this effort has not been without any cost. Similar to what happens with our cars, but in a more troubled way, the engines and the engine room space have become more and more complicated, there is less space in engine room and much more weight. In fact, in some case the exhaust treatment machineries have size comparable with the dimension of the engine itself and in some situations all this obliged the naval architects the make important changes, and furthermore is obviously not possible, simply increasing the dimension of the engine areas without effect on cost, stability etc. The work focuses on examining the study of two cases: the first is the case of a 70 m. Yacht, whose construction had started before 1 January 2016, that the Shipyard decided to upgrade , in order to offer a product already respecting the Rules; the second is the case of a Yacht, of over 90 m., whose project has been developed considering the new rules, adopting also a diesel electric solution to better meet the requirements . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]