Last week, our journey through the world of watercraft, part of our Sea Month coverage, brought us face to face with an incredibly potent machine. Called Kronos, it's an armored submarine imagined as a multi-use machine, being suitable for anything from commercial purposes to rescue operations.
The sub, which has folding manta ray-like wings to be easier to transport over land, is allegedly capable of reaching speeds of 80 kph (50 mph) when cruising above the waves or 50 kph (31 mph) while underwater, which is quite a feat.
The crew behind the Kronos is called Highland Systems. Based in the UAE, the company describes itself as “an R&D and project management company which specializes in development and implementation of state-of-the-art technology into production.” And one of its other projects is this here trimaran.
Or, should we say Trimaran with a capital “T”, given how no other name was chosen for the design, as far as we can tell. It’s your standard yacht with three parallel hulls, but with an extra twist of luxury and power while on the waves.
Designed as per Highland to be 40 percent more energy efficient than a conventional mono yacht, the Trimaran is 53.35 meters (175 feet) long, has a beam of 17.44 meters (57.2 feet), and a gross tonnage of 299.
Photo: Highland Systems
The thing is powered by a pair of mtu engines, each capable of developing 2,600 hp, and together spinning an equal number of propellers that are able to give the Trimaran a top speed of 30 knots (35 mph/56 kph) and a cruising speed of 24 knots (28 mph/45 kph).
Built with two decks, the boat can accommodate a complement of six guests, whose needs are catered by a crew that can be as large as six people.
Highland Systems does not say how many of these it has made to date, if any (we are unable to tell if the photos of the thing are extremely good renders, or real-life pics of one that secretly got made, or a mix between CGI and reality), or how much one could cost. Just to give you a sense of reference, though, keep in mind the average trimaran cost last year on specialized websites was $149,153, but that includes used and less luxurious ones as well.
If charter is the name of your game, people are asking an average of $2,000 per week for the honor of sailing on board a trimaran.
Aside for the Kronos and the Trimaran, Highland Systems seems to be working on a trio of armored vehicles, aptly named Storm, Phantom, and Buggy Hunter. We’ll take a closer look at each of them in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more incredible projects that may never come to be.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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