The M/S Tûranor PlanetSolar, the biggest solar boat ever constructed, has completed its promotional summer tour and is now getting ready for new projects in 2013!
M/S TURANOR PlanetSolar
After having stopped in Marseille, Barcelona, Calvià, Cagliari, La Valetta and Monaco, the Swiss flagged boat is now in dry dock at the La Ciotat shipyard for annual maintenance and to prepare for her 2013 solar campaign.
The Mediterranean promotional tour was once again an occasion for the crew to meet people, media representatives, students and numerous curious visitors and allow them to discover the M/S Tûranor PlanetSolar’s potential as well as her futuristic design. Filled with success, the tour ended in Monaco, two years after beginning the circumnavigation of the globe, on May 4th of last year.
Boat Maintenance and Improvements
After steering the vessel to her dry dock in the La Ciotat shipyard, the crew disembarked, leaving the ship in the capable hands of the technical team that will proceed with her maintenance. They will need to inspect all the essential components of the M/S Tûranor PlanetSolar after more than 39’351 miles of intensive solar navigation. The dry dock work will enable renewal of the boat’s class certifications and optimize her performance in the undertaking of new activities planned for 2013.
Preparing a new Scientific Research Expedition
Under the direction of Professor Martin Beniston from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) – famous climatologist and co-winner, with the International Group of Climatic Experts (GIEC), of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, a team of scientists from the UNIGE, specialized in Physics and Environmental Science, is now preparing for a new expedition along the Gulf Stream. After a few days of navigational testing between Lisbon and Tenerife to verify the proper working order of the measuring devices aboard, the M/S Tûranor PlanetSolar will once again cross the Atlantic, attempting to beat her own speed record of 26 days. Their next objective will be to start collecting measurements and data from Florida, following the trajectory of the Gulf Stream, all the way to the Arctic Circle in a campaign that has never before been attempted, with the ambition to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate our climate.
“The measurements taken by laser technology close to the ocean’s surface will give us new results thanks to the totally non-polluting characteristics of the M/S Tûranor PlanetSolar. The identification of rapid changes in chemical and biological elements will help us better understand the fine-scale functioning of the Gulf Stream, the oceanic current which is fundamental in the regulation of the Earth’s climate. The “PlanetSolar Deepwater Expedition” will allow us to fill in the voids in our understanding of this field” declared Professor Beniston with enthusiasm.
In order to communicate what is at stake during this expedition as well as share the results of the measurements with the rest of the scientific community, PlanetSolar will make stop-overs in the famous cities of Miami, New York, Reykjavik, Oslo, London and Paris!
Besides, the project just received the Global +5 innovation prize rewarded by a jury composed of prestigious members such as Greece former Prime Minister Georgios Papandréou.
The PlanetSolar 2013 itinerary will once again push the limits of technology in order to demonstrate the potential and concretely illustrate the possibilities of solar energy.
