PARIS
Planet Solar, the world's largest solar vessel, cast anchor Tuesday in the river Seine wrapping up its challenging 5-month transatlantic voyage in Paris.
The 90-tonne catamaran, which drew a great interest from Parisians, is about 35 metres long and 25 metres wide, with a total of 516 sqm of solar panels covering its deck and folding out from the sides like wings.
During the Planet Solar’s 2013 campaign, which began on April 8 in La Ciotat (France), the ship sailed over 20,000 kilometers in 156 days, raising awareness about climate issues and promoting solar energy at each of the 12 stopovers including Miami, New York and London. The ship also set a new record for transatlantic crossing, set in 22 days.
Prior to this, ‘’Planet Solar’’ had completed the first world tour of history with solar energy on the 4th of May 2012, at 14.12 hours and 30 seconds covering 60,000 km, crossing all oceans, and reaching all continents.
Gerard d'Aboville, the first man to row across the Atlantic Ocean solo in 1980, is the captain of the ship powered by sun light.
With fully-charged batteries, the ship can travel non-stop for 62 hours without daylight.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
