Yacht Sanitization in Palermo
Sicily: a long warm season, and a base for yachts that stay south all year.
Palermo works as both a summer base and a winter one. Yachts that stay in Sicily rather than going north face the opposite problem to those laid up in Liguria: not cold and stillness, but months of warmth with the system only partly used.
Warm all year, which is not the easy option it sounds
A mild winter keeps a water system in the temperature band where bacteria are comfortable, for months on end.
Further north, a yacht laid up in an unheated shed spends the winter cold enough that growth slows right down. In Sicily that does not happen: the tank and the lines stay warm enough, all winter, for a biofilm to keep developing quietly.
Add to that the pattern of a boat used occasionally through the off-season — a weekend here, a delivery there — and you have warm water sitting still between short bursts of use.
It does not mean anything is wrong. It means the sampling interval should be shorter here than it would be for the same yacht in the north, and that is the whole adjustment.
Everything we can treat while you are in Palermo
The same six jobs make up almost every visit. On most yachts more than one of them is needed at the same time, which is why we survey first and then plan them into a single stop.
Fresh water system
Tanks, distribution lines and every outlet treated as one network, then checked.
Read moreLegionella testing and remediation
A sampling plan, accredited lab analysis, and treatment across the whole network if a sample comes back positive.
Read more
HVAC and air ducts
Ducts and air handling units opened, cleaned and checked, cabin by cabin.
Read more
Fan coils and air conditioning
Units opened, coils and filters cleaned, condensate trays checked — where the smell on start-up usually comes from.
Read more
Galley hoods and extraction
Filters, hood and the duct run behind it degreased, right up to the fan.
Read more
Odour and mould investigation
Finding where a smell or a damp patch actually starts, instead of covering it.
Read moreSee the full list of services if you are looking for something more specific, such as water sampling, post-refit or charter turnaround work.
There is no real off-season, so use a fixed interval
Waiting for a quiet period that never quite arrives is how a Sicilian-based yacht ends up going years without a sample.
Pick an interval and keep it, rather than tying the work to a season that does not exist here. A few months between samples is a reasonable starting point, tightened if a result suggests it.
For the air side, the quietest weeks of winter are still the right moment, even if they are warm ones.
From the first call to the report
The sequence is the same whichever berth you are on in Palermo. What changes is the timing, and that is planned around the yacht rather than around us.
We look before we quote
A technician goes through the yacht with the crew: which outlets are used daily and which almost never, where the air handling units sit, what the crew has actually noticed.
The visit is planned around you
We fit the work into the window you have — between charters, during a yard period, or over a quiet weekend alongside.
We work alongside
No yard move and no lift. The heavy equipment stays on the quay; only hoses and a small dosing unit come aboard, on protected decks.
You get it in writing
Sampling points, what was done, and the laboratory report where water was analysed. That document is what closes the job.
We come to the yacht, work at the berth and leave a written report. The crew keeps running the boat.
Francesco Colombo
CEO · AirBio Marine, a division of AirBio (Ekonore S.r.l.)
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Our own technicians, certified processes
Every intervention is carried out by AirBio technicians employed and trained in house, never subcontracted. We work under certified management systems and close each job with a technical report the captain can file on board.
- ISO 9001Quality
- ISO 14001Environment
- ISO 45001Health & safety
- ISO 16636Pest management
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What a visit looks like
A few moments from the jobs we do on yachts every season: the equipment on the quay, the systems we open and the checks we close with. The same way of working applies in Palermo.
Other ports on the same run
If the yacht moves before we get to you, or you are berthed one harbour along, these are the pages for the ports next door.
Naples
North, across to the mainland.
Open
Olbia
North-west, in Sardinia.
Open
Porto Cervo
On the Costa Smeralda.
Open
Gaeta
North, on the Tyrrhenian coast.
OpenThe complete list is on the ports page.
Working in Palermo: frequently asked questions
Does a mild winter really make a difference?
Yes. Temperature is the main thing controlling how fast bacteria multiply in a water system, and a winter that never gets cold never slows that down.
We use the boat all year. Is that better or worse?
Better than leaving her still, as long as the use reaches the whole system. Short trips that only run a couple of outlets leave the rest standing.
Do you travel to Sicily?
Yes, on request. We plan the visit around your dates and tell you in advance what the travel means for the schedule.
Based in Sicily?
Tell us the yacht, how she is used through the year and where she is lying. A technician calls you back within 24 hours.
Tell us about the yacht
Yacht length, marina, systems and what you have noticed on board. A technician reads the message and calls you back to plan the survey.
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Where we work
Italian Riviera and Tuscany marinas and yards — Viareggio, La Spezia, Portofino, Genoa, Sanremo, Livorno, Argentario — and other Mediterranean ports on request.
Documented work
Every job ends with a technical report and photos for the yacht's records.