The 76.6-metre exploration yacht Yersin, which won the Baccarat SuperYacht World Award at the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show, is to embark on a three-year circumnavigation with the aim of producing ground-breaking scientific research. Yersin’s global challenge begins in Monaco at the end of July, after which she will cruise to Madeira, then crossing the Atlantic before transiting the Panama Canal and crossing the Pacific. She is due back in the Western Med in June 2020. Under the banner of Monaco Explorations and the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Yersin will host scores of marine scientists throughout her voyage.

• Yersin wins the Baccarat SuperYacht World Award

As well as being a fully functioning superyacht, Yersin – built at Piriou in 2015 – is equipped with science labs and accommodation for researchers. One of the lead scientists will be Profesor David Mouillot of the University of Montpellier. “Because of the opportunity with Monaco Explorations and the characteristics of the Yersin, we will be able to reach and sample isolated reefs and deep waters, which are still largely unknown eco-systems for their megafauna. Yersin will be the first platform at sea to analyse biodiversity in real time with dedicated laboratories and materials on board. Also, the ability to do sequencing of environmental DNA is extremely helpful as it is the most limiting factor in classical research projects,” he says.

• Read more about Yersin’s launch at Piriou in 2015

“The greatest ills the oceans suffer are the result of our ignorance. The ocean depths are in large part unexplored, the intermediate areas almost ignored, marine biodiversity is widely misunderstood. Whatever our differences may be, we are all attached to the seas, where life emerged, which contributes to the balances of the planet we share, and on which our future depends,” says HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, who also thanked Yersin’s owner Francois Fiat.