NAVAL ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Earth 300 – A futuristic vessel for oceanic research A 13-STOREY ‘SCIENCE SPHERE’ ON BOARD AN EXPLORER VESSEL, EARTH 300 IS LARGE ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE 160 SCIENTISTS AND 22 STATE-OF-THE-ART LABORATORIES WHO TOGETHER will collaborate on new climate solutions with the help of the ship’s advanced technology. Set for launch in 2025, Earth 300 boasts a fascinating 300m in length and will be fully packed with green technology. The vessel is bigger than the Titanic and will be among some of the largest ships in the world. ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF AARON OLIVERA.
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arth 300 founder and Chief Executive Aaron Olivera’s vision is to build a nuclear-powered ship dedicated to science, ocean exploration, and climate change awareness. Behind the design of the ship is International firm Iddes Yachts, led by naval architect Iván Salas Jefferson. Suitably futuristic, the bold new concept features a contemporary shape with a pared-down conceptual language and an aerodynamic form. Polish naval architecture firm NED worked alongside Iddes Yachts in finessing Earth 300’s otherworldly design, which is perforated with a pattern of geometric shapes extending towards the nose of the ship.
A floating computer Essentially, the ship will be built as a floating computer, as most of the vessel will be filled with scientific equipment that a fleet of climate scientists will use to capture real-time data. A combination of built-in sensors, artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning and real-time data processing will make sense of the
data, as well as the world’s first commercial, ocean-going quantum computer. All the information gathered will be open-source and shared with other climate scientists as part of the mission to unite both science and exploration to take on some of the biggest challenges on earth.
Nuclear power Powered by atomic energy, the zero-emission superyacht is powered by an onboard molten salt reactor based on technology being pursued by companies like Moltex, Thorcon, Samsung and Seaborg. It’s a first, as quantum computing and a molten salt reactor have never before been installed on a ship. Mr Olivera and his consortium are championing nuclear power from a new breed of nuclear reactors that use molten salt as both coolant and fuel. These reactors (Marine Molten Salt Reactor, or m-MSR) were first developed in the United States in the 1960s. Ultimately, they were replaced by lightwater
At 300m, Earth 300 is bigger than the Titanic and will be among some of the largest ships in the world.
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