Member - 1.618, programme Esprit de VELOX

Esprit de Velox has been developing a bio-inspired, Zero--Impact vessel, dedicated to Responsible Research and Preservation Operations, open to Collaborative Intelligence and embedded R&D, available to the Research and Innovation communities, pioneering at sea non-invasive and interdisciplinary Research, understanding and preserving the Earth system, from tropical to polar navigation zones. The environmental neutrality and energy autonomy of the ship are key assets, which allow clean data and complex works. The vessel is expected to achieve a world’s first, without disturbing the ecological balance and embodying the decarbonation of maritime transport. The programme is a triple world’s firsts for a >500 UMS vessel: . Wind main propulsion . Carbon-free Renewable Energy Island grid . Recyclable composites structure With the Esprit de Velox vessel and its inter/transdisciplinary research programme, it becomes possible to: . Sail and act where research and innovation are needed, all over the Ocean and its most remote places/islands to explore, understand, broadcast, welcome on bord to interact, to promote and protect the Ocean. . Make the investment in inter/transdisciplinary research reliable (350m² of research space) at the moment when the community calls for neutral vessels/platforms to preserve collected data . Combine ON BOARD a large variety of disciplines for a holistic study of the Ocean within the Earth system (marine geology, physical and chemical oceanography, marine ecology and biology) that will study and provide combined data on the global marine environment (marine organisms, ecosystems and trophic web dynamics, geophysical fluids dynamics - ocean currents, waves – physical and chemical properties, plate tectonics dynamics and the geology of the sea floor as well biogeochemical cycles within the Ocean and across its boundaries). Furthermore, human and social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, and arts will actively collaborate together and with natural sciences to produce innovative transdisciplinary topics proposing changes in the ocean-societies system. . integrate ON BOARD merging societal needs and encourage new partnerships among oceanographers working in different disciplines leading to new discoveries about the ocean’s role in climate regulation and coastal ocean processes. . Carry out research and innovation AT SEA and FROM THE OCEAN TO THE SHORE, on board a ship with a virtually zero environmental footprint (GHG, effluents, noise, etc.) ahead of the industrial phase with the IMO's objectives . Make possible ON BOARD the meeting of Ocean Science and business operations (shipping industry, fisheries and aquaculture, etc…) as well as conservation and management activities or coastal communities by predicting Ocean hazards preventing, mitigating disaster risks, and developing ZeroImpact maritime transport. . Innovate, Engage, Impact on a larger and more visible scale . welcome on board, support and promote countries’ initiatives and actions to sustainably manage the Oceans and more particularly to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Esprit de Velox will be a powerful lever to drive integrated science-based solutions to monitor, protect, restore and manage ocean ecosystems and marine biodiversity in the context of global environmental changes, while embracing a systemic vision of societal change.