The Golden Fleet: SuperYachts Yachting with an Eco-Conscience

Yachting With an Eco-conscience

[2016]

When science and superyachts come together, great things can happen. This article featured in the October 2016 issue of ShowBoats International Magazine highlights the Foundation's use of HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan's Golden Fleet to further coral reef research and ocean conservation across the globe.

When science and superyachts come together, great things can happen. This article featured in the October 2016 issue of ShowBoats International Magazine highlights the Foundation’s use of HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan’s Golden Fleet to further coral reef research and ocean conservation across the globe.

Yachting With an Eco-conscience

ShowBoats International Magazine
October 2016
Joanna Della-Ragione

… Saudi prince HRH Khaled bin Sultan came to allow scientists to use his fleet almost by accident. The former general in the Royal Saudi Air Defense retired post-Operation Desert Storm and decided to commission a new yacht.

“At the time, someone suggested he use what’s called a shadow boat system; you build a superyacht and you also build an escort vessel that takes care of all the industrial stuff,” explains Philip Renaud, executive director and chief oceanographer of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, established in 2000. “Our shadow boat Golden Shadow even has a recompression chamber.

“Its first captain back in the 1990s was a real oceanography fanatic who asked the Scripps Institution of Oceanography if they’d be interested in using Golden Shadow for scientific missions. At the time, the Prince was learning to scuba dive and thought it was a brilliant idea, so he agreed to deploy the shadow boat to host oceanographers and their research”…

2025-2026 B.A.M. Student Voices

Throughout the Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) and Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) programs, we evaluate each phase of the mangrove education and restoration process to better understand how students are learning, growing, and connecting with their coastal environments.

Before the programs begin, students share what they already know about mangroves and how they feel about them. As the program progresses, we continue to gather feedback to see how their knowledge evolves from identifying mangrove species and understanding food webs to recognizing the role mangroves play in coastal protection and climate change mitigation.

But the surveys go beyond science content.

We also ask students…

Ten Years of B.A.M.: Rooted in Partnership, Growing in Purpose

Ten years ago, the Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) program began with a simple but meaningful commitment: to connect Bahamian students with the mangrove ecosystems that shape and protect their island home.

Since 2015, B.A.M. has been implemented in partnership with Friends of the Environment, whose dedication to environmental stewardship in Abaco has made this program possible year after year. Together, we have worked alongside Patrick J. Bethel High School and Forest Heights Academy to bring hands-on mangrove science into classrooms and out into the field.

What makes ten years remarkable is not just longevity — it is consistency…

Yachting With an Eco-conscience

Related Posts

2025-2026 B.A.M. Student Voices

Ten Years of B.A.M.: Rooted in Partnership, Growing in Purpose