The superyacht has become an ultimate symbol of wealth, as it has gotten a vivid surge in demand during the COVID. This ultra-wealthy coveted for solitude and social distancing in its most luxurious, high-class form.
Orders have flowed in due to an increasing worldwide fleet of thousands of superyacht (these can be defined as 80 feet long luxury boats with professional crew).
Large superyachts have an unduly adverse effect on the sphere.
As per the calculation of Indiana University’s anthropologists, a superyacht with a helicopter pad, a permanent professional crew, and submarines produce more than 7,000 tons of CO2 per year.
If multiply by 300 superyachts worldwide (which is a rough number), it would be equal to more than two million tons of CO2 a year. This is even more than the yearly emissions of the people living in the ¼ countries on the planet.
Now, a proposed superyacht intends to leverage the luxury aura of ultra-rich yachts with the scientific research to craft an emissions-free mega yacht, so climate scientists and wealthy people will come together in an audacious pursuit to save the earth.
A floating computer
If the new ship, launched “Earth 300” (about its length of 300 meters, or 984 feet), it would become the world’s largest superyacht, leaving behind the yacht (590-foot long Azzam), possessed by Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
The initial design of the yacht is sleek and bold. Its 13-floor will house almost 48 scientific laboratories where scientists will collect data from the superyacht travels to come up with the best resolutions to alleviate the alarming climate change crisis.
Research findings will be supported by a quantum computer with incredible speed. This computer will feed the results into an open-source platform so that the global community can participate. The quantum computers are not yet commercially offered, but Olivera hopes to integrate them into “Earth 300”.
Olivera speaks that he envisions “Earth 300 to become an iconic object worldwide, and attract comparisons to the iconic structures such as Olympic torch and the Eiffel tower.”
Is superyacht equipped with nuclear power?
He further explained the reason behind building this ship which is the global problem of climate change and the oceans are like the beating heart of the Earth because they engross maximum carbon. So he wants individuals to come together in a restricted setting, undergoing a sense of adventure.
Olivera (who has a background in the world of luxury and hospitality in Singapore) says the idea of a luxury ship isn’t completely new, “REV Ocean”, the same research project (from Norway), is also a 600-foot long superyacht intended to explore overfishing, climate change and effects of plastic pollution.
While the Earth 300’s project cost (At $700 million) is almost double that of REV Ocean. The superyacht’s preliminary design and naval engineering-related work have been finished, and we expect to be prepared for an initial expedition this decade.
Initially, the superyacht will consume a different kind of synthetic fuels, but to make it completely carbon and emission-free, Olivera decides to ultimately retrofit a molten-salt reactor (which is a type of a modern kind of nuclear reactor).
Similar to the quantum computer, still, this technology doesn’t exist. But UK firm Core Power in collaboration with TerraPower (chaired by Bill Gates) is working to develop this technology.
It’s one of a dozen bodies that have proclaimed links with this project, comprising IBM, Iddes Yachts (naval architecture studio), and RINA (ship classification firm).
Top image credit: Courtesy Earth 300
