MS Turanor Planet Solar the biggest solar Catamaran in the world which works exclusively with solar energy, arrives in Greece in the context of the archaeological mission «TerraSubmersa», to be held by the University of Geneva in collaboration with the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece, the Greek Department of Underwater Antiquities and the Greek Centre for Marine Research.
MS Turanor at Korinth-Greece
The ship anchored in the port of Corinth on Thursday 24/7/14 and will remain there until Monday 28 July. Then through the isthmus, will be sailed on August 1 to Eretria of Euboea island to commemorate the anniversary of the National Day of the Swiss Confederation.
From there, as it was announced, the catamaran will arrive to Marina Zea of Athens where on August 4 in the morning, an official interview will be held on board in which will be announced all the details about the Archaeological mission which will take place in Argolis, from 6 to 22 August 2014.
Circled in red, the area where «TerraSubmersa» will take place
The archaeological research, which concerns the exploration and the topographic surveying of a prehistoric settlement, will take place in the sea area of Hermione in Argolis where Swiss and Greek archaeologists, by undersea exploration, will look for traces of human activity in an area which may be one of the most ancient settlements in Europe.
The 31 meters catamaran which carries the Swiss flag and belongs to the Swiss Planet Solar SA, is currently used as a floating laboratory of the University of Geneva. The name Turanor was borrowed from the book “the Lord of the rings by Tolkien”, which means “the power of the Sun”.
The boat was designed by New Zealander Craig Loomes and works exclusively with solar energy through photovoltaic panels of 5.381,96 square feet, powering with 93 kW four electric motors. In the evening the boat draws energy from lithium batteries weighing 8.5 tones. The vessel launched in March 2010 and in the following September sailed from Monaco for the circumnavigation of the Earth. Returning to Monaco 584 days later became the first solar-powered vessel that completes the round of world.
Further reading:
Is Turanor a yacht? What are the conditions so to be classified as a yacht?
