This $700-million nuclear superyacht costs $1 million to travel on and is meant to save the planet

A Singapore-based entrepreneur wants to take scientists, students and billionaires aboard an ambitious nuclear-powered megayacht for a research tour around the world’s oceans.

Thinking ship: Gibraltarian businessman Aaron Olivera has set out to build the “Earth 300,” a 984-foot (300 meters) research vessel that will bring together the world’s wealthiest people and smartest scientists to help find solutions to the most pressing environmental problems, reported CNN.

The proposed superyacht, designed by Spanish naval architecture company Iddes Yachts, would be the largest of its kind and will have a capacity of 425 people including its 165 crew members, 160 scientists and their staff.
It would come equipped with 22 state-of-the-art laboratories housed in a giant sphere, where researchers aboard could explore the oceans, gather data and collaborate.

Joining the scientists would be 20 students and a pool of 20 resident experts from different fields including economists, engineers, explorers, artists, activists and politicians.
There are also 20 VIP suites reserved for the ship’s paying passengers: the wealthy tourists who are willing to shell over $1 million per person to fund the research.
The global research community is also encouraged to participate using an open-source platform supported by a quantum computer, which is theoretically capable of performing computations at blazing speed, Science Focus reported.
“This ship will be a floating computer which will allow people from all around the world to participate in the journey,” Olivera was quoted as saying. “That means that these wealthy individuals who are coming on board will have to share the experience with the world, not just among themselves.”

Not there yet: Olivera said the ship’s preliminary design and naval engineering are complete and he is now in the process of searching for shipyards in Germany and South Korea to begin construction.

The planned ship, which has a projected cost of $700 million, promises to be 100% emission-free thanks to the Molten Salt Reactor that Olivera plans to retrofit into the ship.
However, the technology doesn’t exist yet and is reportedly still under development by the U.K. firm Core Power in partnership with nuclear engineering company TerraPower, a company that Bill Gates started and chairs.
The quantum computer that Olivera wants to include in his ship remains under experimental studies by tech companies.
“At present, both quantum computing and a molten salt reactor have never been installed on a ship,” Olivera admitted. “Both will need an extreme level of engineering to get to that stage.”
Still, Olivera is confident that they’ll reach their target maiden voyage of 2025, noting that, “It’s just a question of the chips falling into place in the next six months or so, once we have the funding package in place.”

Featured Image via Earth 300

Share this Article