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Check out Episode 3: Superyacht Futurology! Simon Brealey, Principal Engineer at Lateral Naval Architects, stops by to discuss zero carbon, the future of superyacht technology, and Aqua, the world’s first fully hydrogen-powered superyacht. Shipping and sustainability just got a whole lot more interesting!
Lateral Naval Architects have been the engineering component behind the industry’s most dynamic projects: Black Pearl, Jubilee, Esquel, Tuhura) and now, Aqua, the world’s first hydrogen-powered superyacht concept. Sander J. Sinot, head of the eponymous design house, SINOT Yacht Architecture & Design, said it best: “Our challenge was to implement fully operational liquid hydrogen fuel cells in a true superyacht that is not only groundbreaking in technology but also in design and aesthetics.”
This week we talk to Simon Brealey, Principal Engineer at Lateral, about hydrogen energy, Polar Code, and how zero-emission superyachts fit within the wider framework of shipping. We also explore how IMP, Polar Code, and MARPOL conventions come into play.
Here are the takeaways from our discussion:
- The future of shipping and superyachts is Zero Carbon. From 2030 on, every ship will need to be zero carbon.
- Critiques of the Aqua project are talking about grey, not green hydrogen.
- Storage, a range of tenders, seakeeping, and redundancy are essential logistics for an explorer concept.
- Sorry, folks! Bill Gates is not connected to the Aqua project.
Aqua propulsion layout. Image: Lateral Naval Architects.
“We like to see ourselves,” Brealey says, “enabling interesting design and interesting ideas. Maybe by providing technology and providing information about what technology is available, we can help people to come up with these concepts and realize these concepts.”
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