Düsseldorfer want to cross Atlantic route in record time

Ship "Mythos" to be powered by fuels from renewable energies

It is still unclear when the ship "Mythos", which has aircraft turbines adapted to maritime conditions and is powered by synthetic fuels from renewable energies, will set sail. That's because: the Corona pandemic, the Ukraine war and inflation are delaying the project.

"We are using the time to integrate climate-friendly elements. In addition, we are currently evaluating the elaborate cladding of the underwater hull with a special shark foil that has just been approved and certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and was developed by BASF and Lufthansa Technik," says Udo Stern. "Research on the foil alone took 15 years." According to Stern, this technology can save fuel and reduce CO² emissions.

Trip dedicated to peace, freedom and human rights

German speedboat world record holder and Düsseldorf native Roger Klüh, who was approached by the consortium to be the captain or driver, has expressed his interest in the ride, which is not without danger. "He was immediately open to our project and is now just waiting for it to get underway," says Stern. Klüh wants to dedicate the chase for the world record to peace and freedom as well as human rights. "Because of the current situation, this is particularly important to us. We ourselves want to donate to a humanitarian organization as much as possible and will start appeals for donations as soon as the race gets underway," says Stern.

Düsseldorfers take ship "Destriero" as model

As early as 1992, an attempt was made to break the record with the ship "Destriero". And with success. "The ship had the fastest time of two days, ten hours and 34 minutes. Nevertheless, it never received the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic. The project manager had the ship misclassified, which meant the award was not pronounced." However, the Destriero is now considered the model for the Düsseldorf "Mythos."

Another requirement, besides the proper classification of the ship, is also that there must be at least one paying passenger on board the ship. For the journey itself it needs altogether two crews, because: "One must drive continuously", stresses star. In addition, we can only set off in good weather." The consortium now wants to fulfill its dream. "Nevertheless, we need sponsors. Gladly also from the environmental sector and those who work with synthetic fuels."

The current record holder is the Scandlines Cat Link V fast ferry with 2 days, 17 hours and 59 minutes in 1998.

Source: Janine Tiesler, Westfalenpost, 15.11.2022