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Particularly effective in creating a positive image, large projects act as a showcase for France at home and abroad. They sustain our country’s vitality in maritime affairs and underline our drive to invest in this area of great promise for the future. They are key to rousing the enthusiasm of the greatest number, as the ARIANE and CONCORD programmes were for the aerospace industry. Large projects rise above the reputations built by the successes of our companies to become true "national symbols".
The fastest sailing boat of the world combines dream and high technology. This extraordinary sailing boat can fly over oceans at a very high speed combining the leading techniques of the aeronautical and marine industries. L’Hydroptère DCNS is a unique and innovative project, which conveys extremely strong human and technological values. The aim is to demonstrate the offshore potential of ‘flying’ boats. Alain Thébault, her designer and skipper, has held the absolute speed sailing record over a nautical mile (an average speed of 50.17 knots or 95km/hr) since 2009 and eventually aims to develop a maxi-hydroptère capable of securing the greatest offshore records.  Seine Alliance on a project to build a new liner named France. It will be different from other liners and the target launch date will be end of 2015. One of the defining moments for the project was the recovery of the tip of the bow of the now dismantled liner France, later Norway, now exhibited on the operating site of its river tourism business in the port of Grenelle. The design of this new liner represents a complete break from modern cruise ships. Its capacity has been deliberately limited to 600 passengers accommodated in luxurious all exterior suites. In its day, the former France was an exceptional ship for a number of reasons: its size, its speed, its then revolutionary fittings, etc.; it had real "French style". Now times have changed: the competition for size has reached its limits, ecological considerations and a return to "what a cruise liner should be" are what now concern a certain type of passenger somewhat bewildered at not finding the ship that will offer them their ideal cruise.
SeaOrbiter is the brainchild of marine architect Jacques Rougerie, and is the only vessel of its type in the world. It represents a new concept in continuous 24 hour manned underwater observation. It will provide scientists with a unique opportunity to study marine phenomena, especially those involved in global warming, and add to our knowledge of the rich diversity of resources in the oceans and on our planet as a whole in order to conserve them. It is also an authentic platform for communication, accessible to education, and the vehicle of a new adventure offered to researchers around the Mediterranean, Europe and the world. It is, finally, an innovative technical project, an advanced platform designed to test cutting edge technologies in multiple fields, especially those associated with renewable and sustainable marine energy. The hyperbaric laboratory at the heart of the vessel is an authentic space simulator that will allow a crew of 6 to 8 astronauts from NASA or ESA (European Space Agency) to train for future manned space flights and carry out unrestricted extra-vehicular activity in the surrounding subsea environment, making observations and doing experiments similar to those carried out in space. haut de page |
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