At the La Pérouse dock in the Château port, Brest, the Energy Observer is attracting the attention of many on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. The superb catamaran, arriving from La Coruña (Spain) on Tuesday, had been forgotten for several months, around fifteen years ago, in the same location. Built in 1983 by Canadair, an aircraft manufacturer, for Mike Birch, the famous Canadian navigator, it was also previously owned by Peter Blake before being abandoned. The ship has had various names including Formule Tag, Enza New Zealand, Royal & SunAlliance, Team Legato, and Neocit Observer.
Experimenting with decarbonization technologies
The catamaran, now transformed into a floating laboratory and relaunched in Saint-Malo in 2017, has since been in the spotlight for a global tour to test different technologies developed for decarbonizing ship propulsion.
From 2017 to 2024, traveling to over 50 countries and making more than 100 stops, covering 68,000 nautical miles, the Energy Observer also served as a United Nations ambassador and demonstrated technologies capable of replacing fossil fuels. The ship faced sometimes harsh weather conditions, allowing it to test various solutions such as solar panels powering different types of batteries, computer-controlled sails, hydrogen production, and reversible engines.
A stand at the Malbert dock from March 9
Continuing as ambassadors, Captain Jean-Baptiste Sanchez and his crew will be at the Malbert dock from March 9 to 15, presenting all these innovations to the public while the Energy Observer is moored nearby at the La Recouvrance pontoon.
One final stop before returning to Saint-Malo, the home port, on the 16th or 17th.
