Shipbuilding and navigation began to develop at the dawn of human culture. But they developed extremely slowly. For thousands of years, in different countries, exclusively wooden ships were built, the only propellers of which were oars and sails. It is quite natural that the gradual evolution of the science of shipbuilding, which improved wooden ships by touch and long practice, could not contribute to the construction of ships whose design features would differ sharply from the established shapes and proportions.
"Connector" at sea.
Freak ships, which are clearly an erroneous step in the natural course of development of marine technology, essentially appeared only in the 19th century. They appeared when the use of steam engines to move ships and their replacement of sails, as well as the use of iron as the main shipbuilding material, led to a radical breakdown of old marine technology. The rapid progress of shipbuilding in the last century required new material forms and new principles from engineers. He opened up a wide field of activity for inventors. Great successes in shipbuilding over the past hundred years have been achieved only with the enormous expenditure of labor of many generations of inventors and talented engineers.
But not everything went smoothly in this accelerated development of maritime technology. The search for more advanced forms of ships and better machines for their propulsion often misled inventors, forced them to take erroneous steps, and buy success at the cost of bitter repeated failures. Who would have thought now, for example, that just seventy years ago a ship resembling a swan was built! That there were others - in the form of a record, a cigar, a sea snake!
All these outlandish ships, no matter how funny they were, still brought some benefit. The most ridiculous of them made his contribution, even if only a small one, to the science of shipbuilding. The forgotten inventors of fantastic ships could now say with satisfaction that, in the end, their labors were not in vain.
In connection with the introduction of the steam engine on ships, some inventors were attracted by the idea of using one of the characteristic principles of operation of freight railway trains in marine technology. Namely: the ability to maneuver rolling stock in order to minimize the downtime of the traction unit - the locomotive. One of these inventors, an Englishman named Hipple, hastened to take out a patent in 1861, in which he wrote: “My steam ship is able to leave in any port one or two of its unloading components, to collect pre-loaded parts of the hull there ( duplicates) and immediately go to another port. On the way back, the steamship can again change its components - just as is done with the carriages of a railway train."
"Connector" - diagram.
There was a shipowner who believed in the energetic inventor, and in 1863, one after another, floating “cars” of the fantastic sea train were launched from the slipways of the shipyard in Blackwall. The composite steamer received the name “Connector”, which translated means “Connector”. The steamship consisted of three separate vessels, of which the outer ones were shaped like a bow and a stern. The middle section of the “Connector” was a rectangular insert. Two-cylinder double expansion steam engine with a capacity of 300 hp. s., and a cylindrical steam boiler were placed in the aft part, which did not have a cargo hold. The ship's control post was also located there.
All connections between the individual parts of the “Connector” were hinged joints with large diameter bolts. These connections were supposed to give the steamship a certain flexibility on the wave. The drawing shows how the inventor imagined the behavior of this vessel - a sea snake in stormy weather. Now even a reader inexperienced in maritime technology will say that such a ship cannot sail at sea.
And indeed, the first practical voyage of the Connector proved this. As soon as it left Dover, the ship was torn in half and the separated parts were only dragged back into the harbor with great difficulty. Since then, the Connector has sailed only along the Thames River. A few years later it had to be sold for scrap.
In the last century, many designers were interested in the idea of a ship with a double hull to ensure greater stability on the waves. A certain Captain Dicey, who served in India, was often amazed at the seaworthiness of such native vessels, composed of a pair of boats (outrigger boats).
Returning to England, he decided to build a sea steamer using this principle. Dicey believed that passengers would prefer his ship as the least susceptible to pitching, and he confidently spent all his savings on its construction.
In 1874, the extraordinary iron steamship “Castalia” was built, 88.4 m long, consisting of two separate hulls with a total width of 18.3 m, floating side by side. Each building had its own 180 hp steam engine. With. and a cylindrical steam boiler, which imparted movement to the ship through a special propeller. Four chimneys enhanced the original appearance of the Castalia; they were installed in pairs in two rows.
In an advertisement inviting passengers, Captain Dicey wrote that his ship, unlike ordinary ships sailing to France, hardly rocks, has spacious cabins instead of cramped closets and various entertainment rooms. It would seem that the old captain's luck is assured. But it didn't turn out that way. Although the "Castile" was distinguished by its extraordinary stability on the wave, it was completely unsuccessful in terms of speed. Due to the slowness of sailing, passengers avoided riding on it. People valued time more than convenience.
The steamer "Castalia" at the pier.
Castalia could not recoup its operating costs and, as a result, soon found its end in the scrap iron market.
The Castalia was not the only double steamship. Even 24 years before its appearance on the Clyde River, the steamship Gemini (Gemini), which also had two hulls connected by a single deck, began sailing.
However, it was not built to combat pitching. It was a river steamer with a maximum length of 47.5 m. Its inventor, Peter Borey, only wanted to simplify the propeller and protect it from external damage. He hid the single paddle wheel between the hulls.
Even if the steamship, “safe for passengers, goods and carriages,” worked for quite a long time, it was still a real monster due to the excessively low efficiency of the propulsion unit, and not a single designer decided to imitate Peter Borey in the future.
The famous English metallurgist and versatile inventor Henry Bessemer also paid attention to the fight against seasickness of passengers. As chairman of a shipping company that supported communication across the English Channel, Bessemer drew up a project for “a ship’s salon with a device that would keep the salon in an unchanged position even in rough weather, which was supposed to serve to eliminate seasickness.” In other words, Bessemer invented a pendulum cabin, in which passengers should not feel the rolling of the ship during the rhythmic vibrations of the steamer's hull on the wave.
The structure of the Bessemer ship.
Possessing large funds, Bessemer immediately began implementing his project. In the middle of the ship's hull, named after the chairman of the Bessemer company, there was a room suspended on a swinging frame. While the hull of the steamship was tilting, the pendulum salon had to maintain a horizontal position with the help of automatically operating hydraulic pistons. In order for passengers to suffer less from pitching, which the outlandish interior could not moderate, the Bessemer was made unusually long.
In 1875, the ship set off on its first voyage. This was the flight that determined the ill-fated fate of the Bessemer. The great steelmaker was a complete failure at sea. The steamer turned out to be very slow to move and expensive to operate. But the main flaw of this ship was that it did not obey the rudder due to the excessive length of the hull. Completing its first voyage, the Bessemer, in calm weather, could not immediately enter the French port of Calais. He completely refused to obey the will of the captain and suffered an accident twice, running into a stone pier, before he approached the pier. Notoriety ensured the quick end of Bessemer.
"The Arrival of Cleopatra in London."
Probably never before has such an amazing ship sailed the seas as the famous Cleopatra. This ship was built specifically for transporting a two-hundred-ton obelisk, called “Cleopatra’s Needle,” from Egypt to England.
It must be said that the British, who systematically took everything that was possible from Egypt to their museums, had been dreaming of delivering Cleopatra’s Needle to London for 75 years, and only the lack of a suitable ship slowed things down.
"Cleopatra" in section.
Engineers of that time thought for a long time about how to build a ship that could accept and safely transport over thousands of miles a historical monument that could not fit in any ship. In the end they settled on the proposal of a certain James Glover. The result was a long cylindrical iron body, 30 m long and 5.5 m wide, which, when loaded with its ancient cargo, had to be half submerged in water. The strange hull on top had a removable superstructure - a bridge and a cabin for four people, and one mast. The latter was intended for setting oblique sails. Since the entire hold of the Cleopatra was to be occupied by a huge “needle” and there was no room left for the steam power plant, it was decided to tow it by steamer across the entire Mediterranean Sea and part of the Atlantic Ocean.
The location of the obelisk inside the ship.
In 1877, Cleopatra was taken to Egypt on the Nile River. The caution and convenience of loading the monolith stone onto the ship was ensured by the cylindrical shape of the Cleopatra’s hull. The latter was rolled ashore like a pipe and here dismantled to the extent necessary to place the obelisk in the hold. The hull was then reassembled, riveted, rolled back into the water, and the superstructure and mast were installed. The stability of the strange ship was ensured by an equally strange keel in the form of a suspension of a bunch of railway rails.
The sailors felt the absurdity of the design of the underwater part of the Cleopatra's hull only on the open sea. Its blunt ends and bundles of rails provided enormous resistance during towing. The towing steamer "Olga" was exhausted, towing such an inconveniently streamlined ship.
The voyage proceeded safely to the Bay of Biscay. But here a misfortune happened: a storm arose, and the towing steamer, connected with such a bulky cart, in order to save people, was forced to cut off the ropes and leave the Cleopatra, along with its cargo, to the mercy of fate. Five people from the ship "Olga" drowned. Due to the loss of the “keel”, “Cleopatra” lay on board. But she did not drown, but was washed up by the waves in the Spanish town of Ferral. From England, the tugboat England was sent for Cleopatra, which delivered her to London.
The ship's operating experience excluded the possibility of using it in the future to transport bulky piece cargo, and therefore the Cleopatra was dismantled for metal.
Russia also had its own innovative shipbuilders, and some of them. The most famous is Admiral Popov, famous for his round ships. But if his battleships “Novgorod” and “Vice Admiral Popov” brought at least some benefit, then the unusual project of the royal yacht “Livadia” ultimately did not provide anything.
Popov himself personally presented his project to Alexander II and obtained permission to build such a yacht. The best plant in England at that time was chosen as the site for construction. The launch of the yacht in 1880 took place amid an incredible crowd of people, attracted by newspaper reports that the Elder plant was building a vessel never seen before, shaped like a “sawfish riding a flounder.”
English newspapers reported that the Livadia was ordered by the boastful Russian Tsar, who wanted to amaze the whole world with his fancy, supposedly non-swaying yacht and its luxury. The Livadia hull was an oval pontoon 72 m long and 47 m wide inside. Inside, in the engine room, three steam engines with a power of 10 ½ thousand hp were installed, which could propel the yacht at full speed up to 14 knots. Three tall chimneys were placed in a row across the hull, which made a very strange impression even on old sailors who had seen all sorts of things.
Model of the imperial yacht "Livadia" from the Glasgow Transport Museum.
During the passage from England to the Black Sea, the Livadia met a fresh wave in the Bay of Biscay, and although the weather was far from stormy, the yacht nevertheless suffered a serious accident. It turned out that she was completely unseaworthy: the Livadia didn’t rock much, but the flat bottom of the hull hit the waves very hard. The iron sheathing sheets crumpled, were pressed between the frames and even tore. In the bow rooms the water rose a full meter.
The yacht was wide (11 m wider than the transatlantic steamer Queen Mary), so that not only the nearest Ferrol, but also any other dry dock, even the largest in the world, could not accept it. The Livadia had to be repaired afloat in the Spanish port of Ferrol for six months. Only in 1881, taking advantage of the cloudless summer weather on the Mediterranean Sea, was it possible to transport the Livadia to Sevastopol. After three years of useless anchorage (Livadia made only one voyage to the Caucasian coast), the yacht was disarmed, and its hull was turned into a coal lighter.
August 15th, 2012
Project 415
On the Internet, this futuristic-looking trough is now most often referred to as the “spy ship Aeria” and is found mainly in photographs taken in Turku, Finland.
Attempts to dig deeper lead to little results: it is argued that in reality this is a raid minesweeper of Project 415 (more precisely, Reede Minenabwehr Boot Projekt 415), built in 1989 at the Peenenwerft shipyard in East German Wolgast and after the collapse of the GDR (or the unification of Germany) migrated to the Union.
In the troubled nineties, an exotic minesweeper that became private property ended up in Turku, where the ship was planned to be equipped as a floating casino, according to the fashion of that era. Absolutely nothing came of this venture, and the abandoned “Project 415” became an eyesore for the port authorities for many years, until in 2009 the ship was finally scrapped in Lithuania.
Private catamaran-submarine Ego
The Ego catamaran submarine is designed to open the beauty of the underwater world to a wide range of people. After all, to travel on it you do not need any special skills or training. Controlling this vehicle is so easy that the creators themselves call it an “underwater Segway.”
For maximum safety and maximum convenience, this submarine can be said to be “crossed” with a catamaran. That is, its underwater part is simply attached to a platform floating on two floats. And this allows people to move, at their own discretion, both under water and above it.
The underwater part of this vehicle is made of acrylic glass - the same material from which the walls of giant aquariums in aquariums are made. So there is no need to be afraid that this glass will suddenly crack from water pressure or hitting an underwater rock. However, even in this incredible case, Ego passengers can simply climb to the upper deck of their catamaran submarine.
This submarine is designed for two people (at least that’s how many people can be in its lower part at the same time). It can travel at speeds of up to four knots (approximately 7.4 kilometers per hour). And the batteries allow you to move on a single charge without stopping for six to ten hours, depending on the selected speed of swimming.
Mayflower Resolution
This ship, assembled in China, is designed to install wind turbines. The most interesting thing about him is that he swims to his destination, where he stops and... stands on these same legs.
Viking Lady
The Viking Lady, an offshore service vessel, is powered by internal combustion engines and a gas fuel cell stack. The vessel's battery system transfers power to an electric motor, making it the first commercial vessel in the world to employ such technology.
According to DNV, due to the technology used on board the vessel, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are reduced, as well as harmful emissions of nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere, which are comparable in terms of emissions of 22 thousand cars per year.
Last week, Det Norske Veritas completed tests on a new fuel system on board a ship, taking the research project to the next level where tests are carried out directly on the ship.
Viking Lady will most likely work for French fuel giant Total and will be involved in fuel production on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Concrete ships
Norwegian engineer Nikolai Fegner, in 1917, created the first self-propelled sea vessel made of reinforced concrete. He called it "Namsenfijord". The Americans built a similar cargo ship, Faith, a year later. By the way, during World War II, 24 reinforced concrete ships and 80 barges were built in the United States.
In 1975, a reinforced concrete tanker “Anjuna Sakti” with a deadweight of 60,000 tons was built to store liquefied gas.
During the Second World War, the Americans built 24 reinforced concrete ships.
The vessels were constructed in Tampa, Florida, beginning in July 1943, each taking no more than a month to build. The ships were named after the great scientists of those times.
Two ships were sunk during the battles of Normandy, nine are used as breakwaters in Kiptopeke, Virginia, two were converted into moorings at Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon, and seven more were converted into a giant breakwater on the Powell River in Canada.
Proteus
The futuristic vessel Proteus looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, a catamaran reminiscent of a water strider spider. The cabin for the crew and passengers is mounted on four giant metal “spider legs”, which, in turn, are attached to two pontoons that provide reliable buoyancy. Proteus is about 30 meters long and 15 meters wide.
The unusual vessel is powered by two diesel engines with a capacity of 355 horsepower each. The displacement of Proteus is 12 tons, the maximum payload weight is two tons. Its cabin (with four berths), when parked, can be lowered into the water, separated and sail independently for a short distance. This increases the flexibility of using the new device. The cabin can approach the pier, leaving its feet hundreds of meters from the shore. And, most importantly, the cabin can be changed, turning one Proteus into a multifunctional device. Proteus is aptly named after the Greek sea god, according to legend, capable of taking on different guises.
Developed in complete secrecy, the project was first presented to the public on the water in San Francisco Bay by the Californian company Marine Advanced Reasearch. Its author and captain of the ship, Hugo Conti, had long planned to create a vessel of an unusual design. “This is a fundamentally new model,” he says. “It moves completely differently than a regular ship, much faster due to its low weight. In essence, Proteus seems to be dancing on the waves. According to the inventor, the Proteus is extremely light, very maneuverable and has a cruising range of more than 8 thousand kilometers. There is no rudder on it: the vessel is controlled using propulsors mounted on each float. Conti has patented his invention and expects to begin marketing it in the near future.
Proteus, the first full-size WAM-V (Wave Adaptable Modular Vessel), is an exceptional vessel that features modularity, light weight, wide range of applications, low sea influence, ease of operation, low noise and low fuel consumption.
The American naval research unit owns some rather strange oceanographic equipment, in particular, the floating platform Flip, created at the Laboratory of Marine Research and Oceanography at the University of California. The Flip is not exactly a vessel, although researchers live and work on it for quite long periods of open ocean research. In fact, this is a huge specialized buoy, and the most unusual thing about it is that it actually turns over (Flip - literally translated as “turn over”)... Let's find out more about this floating miracle.
The Flip is 108 meters long, with small narrow compartments along almost the entire length and a large hollow compartment at the end. When these long tanks are simply filled with air, the Flip is in a horizontal position, but when they are filled with seawater, it floats like a float above the sea surface, which gives it very great stability during strong storms. When the water is released, the vessel returns to a horizontal position and can be transported to a new location.
Everything inside is arranged in such a way that when there is a revolution, everything adapts to the new position. The cabins have two doors, making it easy to move to a new position. Toilets and some elements in the kitchen are duplicated here. The entire turning process takes 28 minutes, which is quite fast for such a giant.
This shifter was built 50 years ago, in 1962, by scientists Fred Fisher and Fred Spiess, who needed a quieter and more stable vessel to study the behavior of sound waves underwater.
Flip was designed to study wave heights, acoustic signals, water temperature and water density. To avoid interfering with acoustic instruments, the vessel has no engines and must be constantly towed to the research site where it will be anchored. In a vertical position the vessel becomes extremely stable and quiet.
Already during the very first tests, a lot of important data was collected on water circulation, the formation of storm waves and the movement of seismic waves, the temperature interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, the sounds of marine animals and many other important areas. 
They can capsize, navigate fierce storms and transport oil platforms. We present to you a selection of eight of the most remarkable specimens that will change your understanding of maritime vessels.
RP FLIP
Scientists Fred Fisher and Fred Spies created the RP FLIP in 1962 as a vessel to study sound waves underwater. This ship, which is owned by the US Navy, has one remarkable feature: it can capsize perpendicular to the surface of the sea and plunge its leading edge under water, leaving only the rear part above the water.
This also makes FLIP an ideal tool for studying wave heights and water temperatures. To turn the FLIP over, the crew fills tanks located in the long, narrow stern with 700 tons of seawater. When the examination is completed, the crew replaces the water in the tanks with compressed air, causing the ship to return to a horizontal position.
Vanguard
Built in 2012, Vanguard is the world's largest cargo ship. This massive vessel is 70% larger than any analogues and, unlike them, has a completely flat deck. This means that all 275 meters of length and 70 meters of width can be fully used for loading.
The ship is also semi-submersible - using watertight ballast tanks, the crew can lower the deck below the surface of the water. This is useful when the Vanguard needs to capture floating cargo, such as the capsized Costa Concordia.
Sea Shadow
Lockheed Martin built the Sea Shadow during the Cold War as a secret test ship for the US Navy. The ship was stationed in the waters off Southern California from 1985 to 1993 to study the possibility of creating a stealth ship using the Stealth technology of the F-117 Nighthawk aircraft.
It was hoped that the ship would be less affected by waves and would be more stable even in extreme storms. In addition, its unusual body of large flat panels set at 45 degrees to each other, as well as a ferrite coating that absorbs radar waves, makes the Sea Shadow very stealth to radar indeed.
Severodvinsk
Entered service in June 2014, this Russian attack nuclear submarine is equipped with fourth-generation supersonic cruise missiles and homing deep-sea torpedoes. It is the lead ship of the Yasen project of the Russian Navy and the first submarine in which torpedo tubes are located behind the central control compartment.
The 119-meter Severodvinsk can dive to a depth of 600 meters and travel at speeds of up to 30 knots (55 km/h), outpacing most torpedoes. The submarine is equipped with a virtually silent nuclear reactor, a low-noise propeller and a hull coated with sound-absorbing material to avoid detection.
Alvin (DSV-2)
The DSV-2 debuted in 1964 as the world's first manned deep-sea submersible and its design has been continually improved since then. He completed more than 4,600 dives, including a mission to explore the wreck of the Titanic.
The robust steel body, 7 meters long and 3.6 meters wide, was replaced with lightweight titanium, which made it possible to reach a depth of almost 6400 meters. Inside there is enough space for three people, and outside the submersible is equipped with two mechanical manipulators.
Chikyu
With its ability to scan the seafloor up to 7 km deep, the Japanese research vessel Chikyu is an important tool for scientists in understanding global geological changes. The ship monitors seismogenic areas of the earth's crust to provide early warning of future earthquakes.
It can also be used to drill into the earth's crust and explore its mantle. The vessel is equipped with a sophisticated on-board computer that takes into account data from the navigation system, wind speed, waves and underwater currents, controlling the engines based on these readings.
Wave Glider
A small California company, Liquid Robotics, has developed an unmanned vessel designed to collect environmental data in conditions too dangerous for humans. The Wave Glider consists of a solar-powered surfboard-like hull and belt-driven hydrofoils - a design that makes the Wave Glider an ideal vessel for operating in extreme ocean conditions.
The drone can be equipped with 70 different sensors to collect data and mapping tools, sending information online to the cloud.
SeaOrbiter
Currently only a prototype, SeaOrbiter would be the world's first non-stop exploration vessel, allowing scientists to spend months at sea searching for new life forms. SeaOrbiter will be powered by wind and solar energy, and the 60-meter-long, 1-tonne hull will be made from recycled aluminum known as Sealium, which is suitable for the harsh conditions of the deep sea.
Inside there will be a research laboratory and several small bathyscaphes for individual research. Construction of SeaOrbiter is scheduled for the end of the year.
Ramform Titan
Seismic exploration company Petroleum Geo-Services has placed a preliminary order for the construction of two W-class Ramform vessels from the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The vessels are representatives of the new fifth generation of the Ramform series. The cost of each of them is estimated at $250 million.
Safety, efficiency and productivity are key features of the new Ramform Titan, equipped with 24 offshore seismic streamers, which was recently unveiled at MHI's shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan. The new ship will be the most powerful and efficient marine seismic vessel ever built. She is also the widest (at the waterline) ship in the world. Safety and performance were the main considerations when designing the vessel. This is the first of four ships to be built in Japan.
Proteus
The futuristic vessel Proteus looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, a catamaran reminiscent of a water strider spider. The cabin for the crew and passengers is mounted on four giant metal “spider legs”, which, in turn, are attached to two pontoons that provide reliable buoyancy. Proteus is about 30 meters long and 15 meters wide. The unusual vessel is powered by two diesel engines with a capacity of 355 horsepower each. The displacement of Proteus is 12 tons, the maximum payload weight is two tons.
Its cabin (with four berths), when parked, can be lowered into the water, separated and sail independently for a short distance. This increases the flexibility of using the new device. The cabin can approach the pier, leaving its feet hundreds of meters from the shore. And, most importantly, the cabin can be changed, turning one Proteus into a multifunctional device. Proteus is aptly named after the Greek sea god, according to legend, capable of taking on different guises.
Than the one created in 2007 by French designer Julien Berthier.
He planed the floor of the yacht out of wood, attached a double motor to it, covered it with fiberglass and named it Love Love.
After that, he launched the yacht and set off on a trip around the world.
Not surprisingly, his ship attracted a lot of attention along the way, especially from the rescuers, some of whom rushed to save him.
But does the yacht Love Love have any competitors, or even ships that even come close to her level of weirdness?
Sea and river vessels
In 2011, Swedish shipbuilder Christian Bohlin created a ship in the shape of a duck. Although the ship looks very strange from the outside, inside you can find two beds, a small kitchen and even a sauna at the bow of the ship. The ship was later put up for sale with a price tag of 40,000 euros.
Here's another nominee for the strangest ship award. In 2007, Italian designer Ugo Conti designed a spider-like vessel and named it Proteus. The cost of the vessel is estimated at $1.5 million. It is worth noting that it is very energy efficient.
It is worth noting that this design was not invented by chance - on this vessel Hugo does not have to worry about his seasickness, since it does not rock on the waves, but glides smoothly over them.
Modern sea vessels
What about a dolphin-shaped vessel? New Zealand designer Rob Innes and Dan Piazz from California have created the Seabreacher, a sea-going vessel that can move like a jet ski, but also bounce, flip and even submerge for long periods of time. Such a vessel can be purchased for $48,000.
This floating Lamborghini even appeared on TV in shows such as Top Gear. It was recently put up for sale on eBay, where it had a price tag of £18,000.
The ship, called the Cosmic Muffin, was the first ship created from an aircraft, namely the Boeing B-307. Pilot Ken London bought part of the plane for just $62 and in 1969 created a real sea vessel from it.
Strange sights of a sea vessel
On his whale-shaped boat, 73-year-old Tom McClean plans to sail 3,000 miles (4,800 km). He named his 20-meter brainchild Moby. It took him 100,000 pounds ($126,400) and 20 years to create such a vessel.
If you're looking to take a luxury tour of the Florida Keys, off the southern coast of Florida, then this floating limousine, called NautiLimo, is for you. It has room for six passengers.
In 2012, the futuristic Turanor PlanetSolar became the world's first ship to circumnavigate the world using only solar energy.
Unusual boats
In 2010, Japanese artist Yasuhiro Suzuki built a ship in the form of a runner, and simply called it Zipper Ship. The author himself said that when the ship floats on the water, the waves begin to diverge from the “runner”, which in turn creates a picture of the opening of the sea.
And this unusual device was called Quadrofoil. It uses hydrofoils to rise above the water and, with little water resistance, reach speeds of up to 40 km/h. In addition, the Quadrofoil moves without much noise.
In 2013, the South Korean company Raonhaje came up with this compact semi-submarine called "Penguin". The vessel allows passengers to explore the underwater world without any diving equipment.
Unusual ships
On the left is a small ship called Jet Capsule. In 2013, it went on sale with a price tag between $160,000 and $270,000.
On the right is a houseboat called Sealander Amphibious, which combines the features of a van and a boat with an electric motor. Cost: 13,000 pounds ($16,440).
The Hot Tub Boat can accommodate 6 adults. The vessel was equipped with a 24-volt electric motor. The captain will not have to get out of the hot tub, since the control lever is located in the tub itself.
Unusual ships of the world
For $4,500 you can purchase a boat that is controlled using an exercise bike. Thanks to twin twin propellers, there is no need to install a rudder, and inflatable pontoons keep the boat afloat.
The Schiller X1 can be assembled in less than 10 minutes. The vessel is quite compact and, when folded, fits into a car.
The Himiko water bus was created by Japanese anime master and cartoonist Leiji Matsumoto. He designed this vessel in the shape of a teardrop. The vessel has wraparound windows and floor panels that glow at night.
