The sea, our planet’s future

French naval shipbuilder DCNS believes that the sea is this planet’s future. The company is inventing high-tech solutions to sustainably secure and develop its potential.

The sea always seems to have been a source of power. To confirm this postulate scientifically, DCNS has launched the Océanides project whose purpose is to study, on the five continents and over a period of five millenniums, the relationship there is between maritime power and geopolitical and economic power. More than 300 research workers from all parts of the world will make their contribution to a project which has had no equivalent since the French encyclopaedia venture which dates back to the eighteenth century.

This project is part of DCNS’ ‘Vision for the Future’, which encompasses its ambition to achieve world leadership in its core areas of expertise, specifically naval defence, energy (civil nuclear engineering and marine renewable energy), along with the survey and sustainable development of the oceans’ potential. A further aim is to achieve long-term balance between DCNS’ main business activities, specifically domestic naval defence, international naval defence and ‘new markets’.

Introducing the strategy, Patrick Boissier, chairman and CEO of DCNS, explained his own vision of the potential of the world’s oceans.

“In 1960, one year before Yuri Gagarin opened the way to space exploration by man, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh were the first explorers to reach the bottom of the ocean on board their bathyscaphe Trieste. 9000 metres down, the pressure cracked an 18cm thick perspex pane on their boat. This did not discourage them from pursuing their odyssey down to nearly 11,000 metres. 52 years later, James Cameron is only the third man to reach those depths. It is fitting to pay homage to those pioneers in the field of ocean depths exploration.

“The fascinating adventure of the Canadian film director down in the Mariana trench reminds us that we know little about ocean depths. The sense of proximity that we harbour towards the sea is misleading. The ocean depths are so little known that James Cameron, back from his dive at the deepest place on earth, said he had had the impression of visiting another planet. One of the great-

est creators of original virtual worlds in the history of film production became aware that at those extreme depths reality goes further than the wildest of fictions. Life takes the form of surprising living organisms which are able to withstand an extremely hostile environment.

“And yet a number of the answers that our planet will have to provide to meet the human, economic and environmental stakes of the next few decades are hoarded in the world’s oceans.”

Era of the sea

Mr Boissier points out that the oceans play a major part in climatic regulation and represent 97 per cent of the earth’s water, two major parameters to meet the environmental challenges in the offing. And the marine ecosystems are rich in raw materials, minerals and biodiversity, a potential – still largely unexplored – which could help us cope with the depletion of land resources.

The sea feeds several billion people and plays a leading role in all international exchanges (e.g. freight, telecommunications), two critical factors for the economic development of an ever increasing world population. Worldwide, marine and maritime business represent sales of around €1.5 trillion.

Furthermore, the oceans are an inexhaustible source of renewable energy (generated by sea winds, waves, marine currents, tides or the temperature differential between sea bottom and surface waters, and seafloor hydrothermal springs), a major asset to meet the exponential need for clean energy. In fact one-third of the world’s oil and 20 per cent of its gas come from offshore resources;

“All this,” says Mr Boissier, “is why, at DCNS, we strongly believe that the 21st century will be sea centred. Naturally, this belief of ours is firmly based on our shipbuilding experience in the defence sector which started in 1631. Today, we dedicate ourselves to the sea in all its dimensions by inventing high-tech solutions to sustainably secure and develop its potential. The era of the sea has come. That era will also be ours.

“We want this ambition to give direction to all activities conducted by DCNS’ stakeholders. Indeed, our business growth is the driving force behind the economic development of an industrial sector which encompasses large and medium-sized companies as well as hundreds of small ones.

“More generally, we wish to share our outlook on the major role to be played by the sea in the future of mankind with all those who are interested in the marine universe. That is why we recently launched the social network of the sea, BlooPlanet (www. blooplanet.com). This is an information and exchange medium that we make available to professionals and the general public alike.

“Maurice Blondel once told us, ‘Don’t make predictions about the future, make preparations instead’. The blue planet is today faced with unprecedented challenges. I am convinced that that the most promising solutions will come from the sea.” n

www.dcnsgroup.com

Patrick Boissier and Patrick Chedmail director of the Ecole Centrale de Nates