As part of its HUBLOT Xplorations programme, the Swiss watch manufacturer has signed a new partnership with the Polar Pod expedition. The brainchild of the French explorer and environmentalist Jean-Louis Etienne – the first man to have reached the North Pole alone – this zero-emission ship will be tasked with exploring the waters of the ‘Furious Fifties.’ This name was given to this area of the Southern Ocean in reference to the high winds and rough seas that are usual here. In order to withstand the sea in all weathers, the Polar Pod is a vertical vessel 100 metres high (with a draught of 80 metres) stabilised by 150 tonnes of ballast. Without an engine, it will drift with the Antarctic circumpolar current and will be powered by the energy of six wind turbines.
This project fits perfectly into Hublot’s Xplorations programme, which now has three pillars: Space, with the design of components for the Space X Exomars Martian robot; Earth, through supporting Sorai, the charity to protect rhinoceroses and other endangered animal species; and the Sea, with Anticythère and now Jean-Louis Etienne and the Polar Pod expedition, a project in which Hublot intends to get fully involved. Today, Hublot is proud to support research through a human, scientific and societal project.