Flexible Vessel Will Promote Marine Conservation
Cox News Service
Saturday, September 22, 2007
WASHINGTON — This is not your grandfather's sailboat, or your dad's Hobie cat. But it may be the next big thing on the water.
Docked on the waterfront in southeastern Washington is a one-of-a-kind vessel that has gotten stares from the Mediterranean Sea to New York Harbor. It looks like a gigantic Erector set version of a water bug.
 RICK MCKAY/Cox Washington Bureau Ugo Conti, designer of the futuristic sea going vessel, Proteus, stands atop the cabin of the one-of-a-kind vessel docked on the waterfront in southeast Washington, DC.  RICK MCKAY/Cox Washington Bureau The futuristic sea going vessel, Proteus, docked on the waterfront in southeast Washington, DC. The one-of-a-kind vessel has gotten stares from the Mediterranean Sea to New York Harbor. The vessel boasts a small cabin hoisted on four suspension-mounted legs attached to independently moving catamaran-type pontoons and can both sail across the ocean and glide along a shallow pond.  RICK MCKAY/Cox Washington Bureau Ugo Conti, designer of the futuristic sea going vessel, Proteus, climbs down a ladder into the bridge area of the one-of-a-kind vessel docked on the waterfront in southeast Washington, DC. The boat is controlled with just the two independent throttles on the console. |
Named the Proteus, after a Greek sea god who guarded marine life and could change shape, the vessel boasts a small cabin hoisted on four suspension-mounted legs attached to independently moving pontoons.
The result is a boat that can both sail across the ocean and glide along a shallow pond, said Ugo Conti, its designer. Conti is the co-founder with his wife, Isabella, of Marine Advanced Research, the company that built it over the past five years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has partnered with the Contis in hosting the futuristic craft, and plans to use it to highlight the importance of national marine sanctuaries and environmental protection in the United States and around the globe.
NOAA plans to host the Proteus next spring on visits to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and to Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary between Savannah and Brunswick, Ga. The vessel may also visit sanctuaries off the Texas coast before traveling through the Panama Canal and returning to its home base in San Francisco.
The boat was part of a celebration in Genoa, Italy in June to launch the One Ocean cruise designed to highlight the worldwide needs of protecting the oceans.
"In reality, it's just one ocean" Conti said, in Italian-accented English. "It's the only thing that is actually connecting all the world together, and so whatever one does in one ocean ... is transmitted everywhere else eventually."
Having the unique Proteus at the marine sanctuaries offers a "teaching moment" for visitors to learn more about marine life, the ocean ecosystem and the importance of conservation and environmental protection, Daniel J. Basta, director of the National Marine Sanctuary System, said at a news conference.
"In today's world, it's extraordinarily hard to get anybody to pay attention," Basta said.
Although NOAA has not invested any money in the vessel and has not agreed to purchase any of the craft, Basta exuded enthusiasm about its potential uses in marine research because of its flexibility and ability to perform numerous different tasks.
Basta called the ship "an ambassador" for efforts to promote awareness of the oceans and the innovative technology that is allowing scientists to better understand marine ecosystems.
Because it is modular, the vessel's cabin can be swapped with several types of structures such as a unit carrying scientific equipment, a mini-submarine, a scuba diving platform or a glass-bottomed boat.
Conti describes the craft as a wave-adaptive modular vehicle.
Unlike a rigid craft such as the standard catamaran, each of the pontoons is attached to the legs with springs, shock absorbers and ball joints. That allows each pontoon to function independently so that rather than having one pontoon digging into the water, each can ride atop the waves.
It's modular in that the engine pods can be changed from gasoline to diesel to jet power. And the cabin unit can be changed according to need.
Although it's big — towering two stories at the bridge, and 100 feet long with a 50-foot beam, the craft is relatively light at 12 tons when carrying 2,000 gallons of fuel.
Because it is so light, Conti said the craft can sail about five to 10 times as far as a conventional boat with the same amount of fuel. Also because of the weight and the pontoons, the boat can sail in remarkably shallow waters — its draft is about 16 inches. Cruising speed is about 18 to 20 knots with a maximum speed of 30 knots.