‘Pangaea’ and the environment
Over 22,000 hours of design time and years of experience and marine expertise have come together in the remarkable sailboat Pangaea.
Pangaea has been specially designed and adapted to integrate the latest sustainable technologies and keeps safety for its crew and passengers a top priority at all times.
Pangaea is built to conform to Mike Horn’s specific requirements and needs, creating an environment where people from all walks of life can meet and share the same passion and objectives. The boat will be used for research, environmental and educational projects at its ports of call around the world. It will be capable of going into difficult territories and will be equipped with the necessary tools to fulfill its mission.
Pangaea is a 35-metre sailing vessel that sleeps 30 people and features the latest communication technology and conference facilities. It also includes efficient diesel engines, solar panels, recyclable aluminum hull and trawling nets for bottles and a number of other ecofriendly sustainable features.
As the mission statement of the Pangaea Expedition is to enhance a respect of the environment, the boat had to be built in an environmental friendly way and had to be ready to integrate most of the tools to produce energy with the lowest possible emission and pollution.
The first step was to choose the right material to build the boat. Aluminum was the obvious one. Technically it performs very well in extreme temperatures. It is very light resistant and durable. Furthermore, aluminum is the most recyclable metal. It can be recycled many times without loosing its qualities. Recycling aluminum uses only 5% of the energy required to produce it.
Throughout Mike Horn’s previous expeditions, progress was made through natural means and human power. For this reason his dream was to build a boat that will encompass this philosophy. A sailing vessel whose main motors will be 600 sq metres of sail. As this boat will navigate the Polar Regions, it was necessary to have motors to travel through the sea ice. Engines with low emissions were chosen in order to keep true to the expedition’s philosophy.
The boat is equipped with two lighting systems, one providing standard lighting and the other pilot or dimmed light that will save on energy. LED bulbs will be used – they give stronger light output with reduced voltage requirements.
In order to produce the required energy on board, two eco-friendly systems have been put in place. The top side of the cockpit will be covered with solar panels. The output of amps will be sufficient enough to charge the batteries of the boat. But as the solar energy is quite difficult to store over a long period of time (even with the help of batteries), the boat will also have a system comprising an electrolyser, hydrogen storage and a fuel cell. The solar panels will be used to give energy to the electrolyser to break the molecules of water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. These will be stored and become the fuel that will be used to produce electricity within the fuel cell whenever needed. In that way, the sun will be the only source of energy and the boat will be largely self-sufficient.
The last step is to have an eco-friendly way of life onboard. Recycling will be a priority. The kitchen has been designed to have compartments for wastes such that they are sorted and ready to be recycled each time the boat makes a stop in a harbor. The boat will also be equipped with large nets and a working area to receive bottles and plastic bags that will be taken out of the water and transported to be recycled.
Pangaea has a media and broadcast centre onboard equipped with the latest technology allowing the creation of high quality broadcast content. Communication from anywhere in the world will be possible. The multimedia centre will enable live TV transmission and production, from TV broadcast to Web content. Among the capabilities will be post-production of audio and video content on different workstations, professional HD Video, audio and DVD creation, content storage, content conversion, content copying, content backup, video conferencing and IT infrastructure with office applications, e-mail, internet and instant messaging using intranet.
A 16-seat conference room with round table will allow guests to congregate, discuss projects, watch films and make live video conference calls either with Mike Horn, on the terrain, or with other boardrooms around the world.
