Lauren Beck is the former editor of Dockwalk and was with the publication from 2006 to 2023. At 13, she left South Africa aboard a 34-foot sailing boat with her family and ended up in St. Maarten for six years. Before college, she worked as crew for a year, and then cut her journalistic teeth at Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal online. She loves traveling, reading, tennis, and rooting for the Boston Red Sox.
Acquera Yachting, a yacht agent with 21 locations in the Mediterranean, will launch the full version of their digital platform, AcqueraPro, for captains and crew before the summer. The platform, which aims to simplify vessel operations and increase efficiency and transparency in the Mediterranean, launched to a select few users in 2022, but the final, full version will now cover the whole Mediterranean with more than 130 ports available.
“The main objective is to elevate the client experience and enhance the fulfilment of all services requested by the yacht,” says Alvise Tositti, Chief Strategy Officer at Acquera. The tool allows users to budget their port of call costs more accurately in the Med, including berth fees, agency fees, pilots, etc. “When budgeting for a port of call, captains are now completely dependent on the agent to prepare a quote,” says Tositti. “AcqueraPro changes the way of working. Our digital platform cuts out processes and introduces efficiency and transparency for the yacht, giving immediate access to all tariffs.”
“AcqueraPro changes the way of working. Our digital platform cuts out processes and introduces efficiency and transparency for the yacht, giving immediate access to all tariffs.”
Tositti stresses that one of most important platform features is the fully automated online form system — just fill in the info and sign your documents digitally, and all your documents are automatically stored in the app, ready for the next time you need them. This helps eliminate bureaucracy and red tape, which was the impetus behind the platform’s creation.
“AcqueraPro solves another crucial issue: the fact that during a port of call, captains can sometimes find it difficult to keep track of all the services and related expenses in real time,” says Tositti. The platform keeps this information constantly updated in real time and available at the fingertips. The bottom line: Acquera wants to make operations easier for captains, allowing crew to focus on the guests and automate procedures and paperwork as much as possible.
The app can also send recommendations for excursions ashore that could enhance the guest experience, from restaurants to local entertainment. The app is available to all with a variety of subscription plans.