bornblueegg
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Anyone seen this?
Cross a seahorse with the starship Enterprise and you get the SeaOrbiter — the world’s first vertical ship, which drifts through the sea allowing Man a closer view of the ocean. So far it is only a prototype but its inventor, Jacques Rougerie, is sure that his international oceanographic station will soon ride the seas in its full 51m (167ft) glory.
Mr Rougerie, an architect, is driven by the aquatic dream: his car is amphibious, his home and office are houseboats and he once spent 70 days under the sea. The facilities on the SeaOrbiter will offer its crew an insight into a little-known world, said Mr Rougerie during an interview on one of his two boats moored opposite the National Assembly in central Paris.
“At the moment, they [oceanographers] can dive only for short periods before they have to be brought back to the surface. It is as though they were taken to study the Amazon jungle and then helicoptered away again after an hour,” he said.
“SeaOrbiter will provide a permanent mobile presence with a window to what is under the surface of the sea.”
Mr Rougerie, who wants to launch half a dozen of the vessels, said that he had half the €35 million (£32 million) that it will cost to build the first one, and is confident of finding the rest. The SeaOrbiter will also be used as a base to study the link between global warming and the oceans, which absorb about a quarter of all carbon emissions.
Mr Rougerie, 64, said: “It’s only in the last 50 years that we have found out that there are seasons under water, with plants flowering, with deserts, forests and an intense life. The food and medicines of the future will come from the ocean. We’re now starting to realise that oceans have a major role in the fragile equilibrium of our planet.”
There will be six crew members, six scientists and six more people on board — perhaps astronauts training in extreme conditions or doctors studying submarine human behaviour. Existing underwater sea stations, such as Aquarius near Key Largo in Florida, are immobile. Unlike a conventional ship, which would roll with its engines switched off, the SeaOrbiter will drift silently across the ocean. Navigation tools, communications equipment and a lookout deck will rise above the surface of the sea. Researchers will live under the water level and there will be a pressurised deck for divers to undertake daily missions over a period of months. “There will be a gym, because it’s very important to practise sport, entertainment with a video player above each bunk, and nice food,” Mr Rougerie added. “I’ll do the cooking myself and I’m a good cook.”
Jean-Loup Chrétien, the first French astronaut, is involved in the design of the ship and its anti-collision system is based on the one used by the International Space Station. Mr Rougerie, who is renowned for his aquatic centres and whose latest commission is for an underwater archaeological museum in Alexandria, Egypt, is confident that the ship will be built. “A year ago, it was 50-50,” he said. “Now I would say it’s 90 per cent certain.” The project was mentioned by President Sarkozy in a keynote speech this summer and has won the backing of companies such as DCNS, the shipbuilder, and Thalès, the defence electronics group.