“The best thing about boats, is they get you to the places with no roads”.
Vessels are essential for accessing the reefs and islands in our Area of Operations – there is simply no other way to get to the places where we work. Furthermore, the particular characteristics of the weather and geography of the reefs and islands around the Coral Sea arc – regular trade winds and numerous shallow reef locations – favour multihull sailing vessels for speed, shallow draft, stability and fuel economy. Not surprisingly, vessels of this type have been used for millennia by the Indigenous peoples of Melanesia as they travelled around the vast network of islands
Our two-phase Vessel Development Plan involves primary deployment of a modern 15m sailing catamaran to demonstrate proof of concept, followed by a new-build and delivery of a 42m Large Expedition Vessel uniquely adapted to our operations in the Coral Sea and significantly more advanced in design and performance than contemporary vessels.
The Large Expedition Vessel design by One2Three Naval Architects draws on the extensive experience of our key personnel in maritime operations and marine ecotourism activities around the Indo-Pacific over the last 20 years. It would give us all-year, all-weather extended expedition capability throughout our Area of Operations and allow us to extend our marine science work to the most remote and critically important conservation sites in the Coral Sea arc and eastern Coral Triangle.
Large Expedition Vessel Characteristics
- Innovative and visually exciting mega sailing catamaran.
- Advanced hybrid power system. Primary propulsion via sails and coconut biofuel, with biodiesel conversion plant onboard. Additional power collection via wind turbines and solar panels.
- 42m overall length, 18m beam, built to International LY3 class in aluminium.
- 15-knot cruise speed under sail.
- 16 guests and 10 crew.
- Two diesel jet tenders for 8 pax+2 crew.
- Equipped for 2-week remote area expedition voyages with a focus on marine conservation support, humanitarian aid delivery, coral reef research, and film-making.