Shipyards worldwide are working on technological innovations to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping. New York designer Jozeph Forakis has some ideas
Pegasus is the first 3Dprinted superyacht
Image: Courtesy Forakis Design
A New York designer has come up with a concept of an "invisible" superyacht that is both aesthetically and technologically unique. Here, everything has been conceived to respond to environmental issues, a major challenge for the yachting industry of tomorrow.
Shipyards worldwide are working on technological innovations to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping. A report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development stated in late November that total carbon emissions from the world's maritime fleet had increased by 4.7% between 2020 and 2021.
While container ships and general cargo vessels are largely responsible for this increase, yachting and leisure sailing also has a role to play in the transformation of maritime transport. Ahead of the World Cup in Qatar last November, cruise giant MSC, which had loaned its new flagship, the MSC World Europa, as a temporary floating hotel, unveiled a technology based on the principle of a fuel cell capable of supplying electricity to a cruise ship. This prototype creates its own hydrogen from the natural gas that currently powers the behemoth, as Henri Doyer, project manager of the MSC World Europa at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, told ETX Studio.
In fact, hydrogen could be the key to greener boating. This invisible and odorless gas, which can be obtained from water or hydrocarbons, is also at the heart of a project for a superyacht of the future, unveiled by New York designer Jozeph Forakis, whose design studio is based in Milan. The 88-meter-long vessel is equipped with solar panels that will provide energy to transform seawater into hydrogen. Like the World MSC Europa, this vessel, expected to be ready in 2030, will have fuel cells to provide electricity onboard, stored in Li-On batteries. Pegasus, in reference to the famous winged horse in Greek mythology, promises to generate no carbon emissions and to sail to the seas with almost unlimited range.
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