BLACK PEARL, the most sustainable yacht sailing the oceans at this time.

BLACK PEARL, developed in close cooperation with the Owner, the shipyard Oceanco, the Owner’s Representative Derek Munro of Divergent Yachting Ltd, the interior and exterior designers Ken Freivokh, Gerard P. Villate and Nuvolari Lenard and Dykstra Naval Architects, is a unique design following one man’s ambition to design and build the most environmental friendly superyacht possible.

BLACK PEARL is a three-mast Dyna-rig luxury, private sailing yacht, build under Cayman Islands flag (according to the Large Yacht code regulations) and Lloyds Register of Shipping classification with the following notation: X100A1 SSC YACHT MONO G6 (X)LMC UMS ECO. The yacht has accommodation for the Owner, 12 guests and 25 crew.

It is the largest sailing yacht in the world!

It is believed that the 106.7m Dyna Rigged vessel could sail trans-Atlantic using zero fossil fuels. No mean feat for a yacht carrying 25 crew and 12 guests whilst running all her ‘House’ systems (Galley, laundry, Air Conditioning etc).

This is all achievable due to a combination of unique features:

• a state of the art Dyna-rig sailing system,
• a hybrid propulsion installation with
• a high capacity battery bank which can be used for peak shaving, running the vessel for a number of hours plus regeneration mode when under sail.
• Regeneration when sailing which essentially means the propellers are turning the shaft making electricity which is used to run the vessel and charge all the batteries.

The hybrid propulsion system combines the fuel efficient traditional diesel direct installation with the flexibility of a diesel electrical installation, with the added value of regeneration of power when under sail. The high energy battery bank provides peak shaving for optimum diesel engine fuel consumption and reduced maintenance with emission free operations when only using the battery installation.

The rig is a Dyna-rig system and was first used on the MALTESE FALCON although the sail system on BLACK PEARL has been further optimised. Unlike MALTESE FALCON all the communications equipment for BLACK PEARL is mounted up the masts instead of on an additional foremast on the foredeck.

The foredeck of BLACK PEARL is designed to take a helicopter if required and hence the foremast rotates 270° whereas the main and mizzen masts only rotate 180°.

The sails have an automated control system, making it possible for a single person to control all functions.

The rig of the BLACK PEARL is also prepared for solar sails to be fitted. The development of solar sails is ongoing and when available these solar sails can be fitted onboard, delivering in addition to the driving force a large electrical power generated from solar radiation.

The hybrid propulsion installation offers maximum flexibility for the Owner, resulting in more economical (fuel efficient) operations, lower noise & vibrations when operating in Silent or Quiet operation mode and less maintenance by optimised running hours of all diesel engines (main engines and diesel generators).

The propulsion system accommodates the following operation modes:

• Silent cruising mode
• Quiet cruising mode
• Economical cruising mode
• Normal cruising mode
• Boost mode
• Motor sailing mode
• Sailing mode
• Regeneration mode (only under sail)

The HVAC system has also been optimised considering lowest possible energy consumption and associated environmental friendly installations. As part of this there is:

• Eco hotel management system.
• Waste heat recovery system

The HVAC system has an inbuilt sanitising system which cleans the air going into the vessel including killing bacteria and virus’ that may be in the atmosphere.

As well as the above, the vessel also has additional thermal insulation to reduce the requirement for AC whilst maintaining the comfort level onboard. This is supported by double glazing throughout the vessel.

Is it more expensive to build a “green” yacht?

To achieve all of this it was necessary for the Owner to invest more than normal into the project, but also for the shipyard to be more flexible than a yard would normally be.

The cost of producing such a vessel is higher as the shipyard needs to invest more time in engineering and also push back their usual build slots, to allow for the time to develop and complete a more complex vessel.

Ideally a lot of pre-contract research and development is needed, to minimise the additional costs and reduce the build slot effect for the shipyard therefore keeping the additional costs to a minimum.

For BLACK PEARL a great deal of time was spent in meetings with various suppliers optimising systems which had never really been placed into a superyacht. During this time and since sailing, it was discovered that with all the excess power from the regeneration the next generation of sailing yachts should be able to be built zero fossil fuel reliant. This using technology now proven on BLACK PEARL but also using a combination of solar and wind generation to produce hydrogen onboard whilst sailing, compress and store this hydrogen therefore meaning no need to ever stop ashore to refill fuel.

So the potential future of sailing is with a combination of Hydrogen and batteries.