NANNI
PROPELLING THE NEXT GENERATION OF MARINE CRAFT Powered by Inside Marine
insidemarine.com
NANNI
I PROFILE
Michele Insom Marketing Director & Head of Spare Parts
192 Inside marine
In the marine business, French and Italian manufacturer Nanni is practically a household name. It has built a formidable reputation for designing, engineering and manufacturing some of the industry’s most reliable and robust propulsion and generator solutions for over 70 years. But now the company’s renowned engineering prowess has been brought to bear on a new onboard power product portfolio, and by all accounts, it has electrified the market. Richard Hagan spoke with Marketing Director & Head of Spare Parts Michele Insom.
F
or over seven decades, Nanni has been a world leader in the marine industry, and for good reason.
Since its establishment in 1952, this family-
owned business has designed and developed complete marine power solutions including engines, marine generators, manoeuvring systems and interfaces for the yachts, fast-moving consumer, and commercial marine trades. Its propulsion solutions have been installed on every conceivable craft around the world, with many of its engines still reliably working hard every day, decades after they were built and installed. On the back of its reputation for reliability, customer-centric design and robust engineering, Nanni is one of the last companies in the industry still focusing on adapting motors and electrical systems solely for the marine market.
A powerful footprint Nanni is headquartered in La Testede-Buch, in the south-west of France, which houses its primary production,
Inside marine 193
NANNI
I PROFILE
office and logistics operations. This
the location of Nanni’s first production
5,000sqm facility - including 1,500sqm
site; but more importantly, it puts Nanni’s
warehousing for spare parts storage -
key teams close to its customers in Italy,
is responsible for manufacturing Nanni’s
which is a big focus in the Nanni time
largest propulsion engines and genera-
development plan.
tors. It also includes an R&D lab, a test bench and a paint shed. This site employs
Diverse products for clients
over 100 people, split between sales, office
Nanni’s customers are primarily shipyards
administration and customer service,
and boatbuilders to whom Nanni provides
including aftermarket service, production,
engines and installation services for these
and spare parts sales.
engines. Outside of its home territories,
In 2023, Nanni also opened a sales and
Nanni’s products are sold via an interna-
operations office in Rome. Housing 15 full-
tional network of 80 distributors in 90
time staff, with a 1,500sqm facility, offices
countries. Larger shipyards work directly
and warehouse. The location is a special
with Nanni’s teams to develop and imple-
one because Rome is the company’s
ment solutions for their own customers,
spiritual home since the family that owns
which span both the pleasure marine and
Nanni is originally from Italy. It was also
commercial maritime markets.
196 Inside marine
“Our ability to provide bespoke solutions to suit the shipyard’s specific needs for a particular application is key to our suc-
Gregorio Passani Chief Business Officer Nanni Group
cess,” Marketing Director & Head of Spare Parts Michele Insom said. “We can build and customise a package for a customer to allow them to build the boat that they want to create. While we have standard engine designs, there is no ‘standard’ that we insist on, because every engine and every customer’s needs are different.” In the recreational market, Nanni’s installations can be found on yachts – including monohull and catamaran sail and motorboats – ranging from small five metre yachts up to large 30 metre vessels. From 25 metres and upwards, Nanni frequently supplies a package that includes both the propulsion system and the onboard generators. For the commercial market, Nanni supplies vessels of up to 25 metres, in installations that span fishing vessels, transport craft and oil and gas fleet vessels as well as naval or military craft – and even search and rescue vessels.
Inside marine 197
NANNI
I PROFILE
Generating new business Now, the engineering experience and skills that Nanni’s teams have developed over the decades have been applied to the successful development of a whole new product category at Nanni: Power generation. “We now have the engineering and manufacturing strength to offer not only propulsion options ranging from 10hp to
metre away, to 61.7dB, the lowest on the
2,200hp, but also up to 800kW of onboard
market today. Named Soundless, the
power generation solutions, ranging from
enclosure was developed as an option
small to very big systems,” Mr Insom said.
in response to increasing customer
Nanni introduced its new power
demand for quieter cruising.
generation product category to the market
“The demand for silence onboard is
in 2021 and it has been an almost overnight
really growing and we’re meeting that
success. Within only two years, Nanni’s
demand with our new option, Soundless,”
generator products became one of the
Mr Insom explained. “Our generators with
most popular ones in its catalogue, allowing
the optional Soundless enclosure now
the company to offer the market a range
produce the least noise in the market.”
of truly integrated systems. “We’re now able to provide our customers
Crossing the Atlantic
with the best possible solution for their
While the company has strengthened its
navigation,” Mr Insom confirmed. “We can
international presence, with more than
offer a complete power pack including
800 sales and service partners in 90
engines of up to 2,200hp and generators
countries, it has seen a surge in growth in
of up to 800kW.”
Europe, especially since 2021. Nanni's next
Ongoing product development work
big leap is a concerted effort to establish
continues to yield further improvements to
and grow its presence in the crucial United
Nanni’s generators. In 2023, the company
States market.
introduced a brand-new soundless version;
“It’s an important market because a large
a special acoustic housing for its genera-
proportion of the boats built in Europe are
tors, effectively reducing the generator’s
bought by US customers, so Nanni is making
noise from 70dB measured from one
a big push into the American market to
198 Inside marine
implement its presence for service and sales,” Mr Insom noted, while concluding: “We believe that the United States will equally appreciate Nanni’s focus on manufacturing products solely for the marine sector. Our product range is 100% marineindustry focused. We’re not a division of an industrial company, or a subsidiary of an automotive or trucking business, for example. We’re focused on marine and we’re the only company that can provide a complete range of products from the little boats up to 30 metre boats.” Nanni is excited to announce that it will be present at all of the major US boating industry trade shows in 2023 and 2024, including the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show and the four Annapolis Boat Shows. Back in Europe, Nanni will also be attending METSTRADE, boot Düsseldorf, Cannes Yachting Festival, Genova Boat Show and many more. The Nanni teams look forward to meeting you to discuss your boating projects.
n
www.nannienergy.com
Inside marine 199