Walvis Bay, Namibia
After 743 nautical miles from Cape Town, South Africa, our laboratory vessel has dropped anchor in Walvis Bay, Namibia, the final stopover of the African chapter of our round-the-world journey.
Coming from: Cape Town, South Africa
Weather conditions: Windy
Time of arrival: 4:00 PM
Travelled distance: 743 nautical miles
Energy Observer's arrival in Walvis Bay, Namibia
A successful test-crossing
Walvis Bay is our vessel's 81st stopover in Africa and the gateway to the second transatlantic of her Odyssey, bound for Brazil. This challenge required a technical stopover in Cape Town to test and check the entire hydrogen chain and prepare our laboratory vessel for the upcoming long voyages.
Sailing up to Namibia from South Africa was thus the first test for our vessel to complete and the result is quite promising!
Bye-bye Cape Town
“A successful test sail for our laboratory vessel, one year after Malaysia, a testing season in the Indian Ocean, and the technical stop in Cape Town. Our ocean-going spaceship is back to full performance before tackling the South Atlantic crossing and all its brilliance to make the eyes of the Namibians, and then the Brazilians shine.”
An efficient energy mix
After relying on sun power and hydrogen in the first few days of the crossing, our catamaran was by the end clocked at 14 knots, thanks to steady downwind conditions, that gave us waves of over 4 metres allowing us to surf at unusual high speed!
This crossing, once again, highly demonstrated the efficiency and complementarity of our energy mix!
A beautiful encounter at sea
While the crew was en route to Namibia, their path crossed that of a humpback whale off the coast of Namibia. A breathtaking moment in the middle of the ocean!
Did you know? The humpback whale is faster than Energy Observer! Known for its endurance, it can cover more than 25,000km in 1 year at an average speed of 15km/h. That's around 8 knots, compared with our catamaran's 5 knots!
A warm welcome!
Upon the crew's arrival in Walvis Bay on Saturday, September 23rd, our catamaran was welcomed by members of the Walvis Bay Yacht Club!
Our vessel stayed docked for an eventful few days, while the crew was busy preparing for the transatlantic race.
Energy Observer docked in Walvis Bay
Visits followed one another on board, with numerous Namibian government figures, the French and Brazilian ambassadors to Namibia, and industrial players coming to discover the laboratory vessel and her technologies, particularly concerning the hydrogen production chain.
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CMB.TECH and O&L teams, partners in the Cleanergy Solutions Namibia project (green hydrogen production).
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Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB
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Roy Camp, CTO of CMB.TECH - Mr Pohamba Shifeta, Minister for the Environment and Tourism - Mr James Mnyupe, Green Hydrogen Commissioner - Mr Iipumbu Shiimi, Minister of Finance
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Mr James Mnyupe, Green Hydrogen Commissioner
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Mr Alberto de la Calle, Ambassador of Spain I Mr Sébastien Minot, Ambassador of France I Mrs Vivian Loss Sanmartin, Ambassador of Brazil
Namibia, the new Eldorado of green hydrogen?
Namibia has one of the highest photovoltaic potentials in the world. With an average of 300 days of sunshine per year and long days (the duration of which varies between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. depending on the seasons) Namibia is located just behind Chile, which holds the world record for sunshine.
That’s more than 3,000 hours of annual sunshine available to one of the most politically stable countries on the continent. The cold Benguela marine current, which comes from Antarctica and runs along the west coast of southern Africa, provides freshness that improves the performance of photovoltaic panels.
The state aims to become one of the leaders in the export of green hydrogen by 2030, while it currently imports nearly 60% of its electricity consumption and is committed to the energy transition.
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Energy Observer's production team at Orano desalination plant
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Arlandis Solar plant, Namibia
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Victorien Erussard visiting the HDF Energy power plant
Energy Observer's audiovisual production team and our president Victorien Erussard, are on site to report on the energy transition and the development potential of green hydrogen and renewable energies in the country.
Unprecedented content which we will share on our social platforms shortly!