Eco-boat to revolutionise maritime shipping industry
The designer of a trimaran sailing boat has promised his revolutionary ‘concept craft’ can transform the way the maritime industry fishes and ships goods around the world. The vessel is powered by the sun, hydrogen and wind.
The brainchild of Belgian professor Gunter Pauli, the boat is centred on environmental research. It cleans up the seas using nano-plastic filters and bubble fishing — a natural way to fish.
The 36-metre-long Porrima has 515 square metres of solar panels on board capable of converting salt water to hydrogen. This is enough power to propel the ship for two days after only two hours of charging. Energy generated by the sun, wind and water is stored within 8 tonnes of batteries on board.
The Swiss-flagged Porrima took three years to build and arrived in Dubai at the end of March for a service and maintenance. In 2023, the ship will travel to Morocco after visiting Qatar during the World Cup, where it will act as a hub for Swiss dignitaries in Doha. The design is specific to the green technology on board. However, a version of this boat could be repurposed to seat 120 passengers to act as a ferry. By 2024, the Porrima Foundation aims to have rolled out 1,000 nano-plastic filters on existing vessels operating in the Mediterranean.
While in Dubai, the Porrima was used as a launching station by the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project. The programme has rescued more than 2020 sea turtles since 2004. A batch of 10 sea turtles, three green and seven hawksbill, were released from the Porrima into the water by Jumeirah Beach.
