From Muammar Qaddafi’s superyacht to world’s first high-speed zero-emission sailing boat

Design team will keep the captain’s chair – in which no one else was allowed to sit

A superyacht once owned by Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi is becoming the first zero emissions high-speed yacht.GreenYacht / GreenYacht.no

The Sunseeker yacht once named Che Guevara has been completely guttted. GreenYacht / GreenYacht.no

The rebuild is expected to take more than a year. Lise S Kalstad/Batans

It will become the Hydrogen Viking, the first zero emissions high-speed yacht. Rory Coase/CoaseDesign

A superyacht once owned by Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi is making waves again – on the way to becoming the first zero emissions high-speed yacht.
From a scrapyard in Malta to a refurb dock in Norway, the Che Guevara, named after one of Qaddafi's heroes, is undergoing a remarkable makeover.
Out will go the Jacuzzi party deck as the vessel is transformed into the sleek Hydrogen Viking whose only emission is drinkable water.
"It's a brilliant project. There is a feeling of satisfaction in taking Qaddafi's old boat and turning it into something positive and exciting," designer Rory Coase told The National.

Brothers Per Erik and Gille Berger bought the ship two years ago and, thanks to technological advancement in in the automotive industry, are now developing an emissions-free yacht.

"They found this notorious boat that was ripe for refurbishment. The fact that this is Qaddafi's boat is another twist in the tale," Mr Coase said.
"The boat was in a pretty poor condition but it was structurally sound. We completely gutted it, stripping it all the way down."
Norwegian shipbuilder Green Yacht is working alongside Coase Design on the revamp.
Mr Coase hopes to complete the project by summer 2022, making the sleek yacht one of a kind.
The plan is to install hydrogen fuel cells and an electrically driven pod propulsion unit under the hull.

Corvus Energy is developing and supplying hydrogen fuel cells using technology from Toyota.
"We are going for light, big pieces of glass. It will be fresh, clean and modern," Mr Coase said.

With the new fuel cells in operation, the engine room will no longer need an engine.
"With pod drives you get the engine room back, which is this massive standing space," Mr Coase said.
"We're toying with the idea of putting the master cabin in the engine room, with steps up to the bathing platform. Suddenly you open up a huge amount of extra space."
The plan is to create a uniquely environmental, high-speed yacht and use it as an educational attraction. However, Mr Coase expects the Hydrogen Viking to be converted back into a hydrogen-fuelled private yacht in the future and sold.
One feature the designer aims to keep is Qaddafi's captain's chair – in which no one else was allowed to sit.