MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Fyodor Konyukhov is planning a Pacific Ocean crossing on board a solar-powered catamaran for the first time in history, according to a press release on the official website of the Russian traveler, writer and artist.

"Between 2023 and 2024, Konyukhov plans to attempt the first solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean aboard a solar-powered catamaran, the NOVA. Part of project NOVA is the construction of an 11m ocean-class catamaran equipped with electric motors and flexible solar modules," the press release reads.

In the first stage of the expedition, the adventurer plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to islands in the Caribbean Sea, while the second stage will entail the mariner’s Pacific crossing from Chile to Australia. Konyukhov will keep a video diary and make environmental observations of the ocean during his trip, in which he will note the presence or absence of plastic waste in the ocean on a daily basis. He will collect materials for subsequent analysis.

Konyukhov is an absolute world champion who performed the fastest-ever round-the-world balloon flight. He was awarded the Pilot of the Year prize by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI) in 2016 for that solo balloon flight. Additionally, he set two world records for the duration of a balloon flight with a co-pilot, Ivan Menyaylo, while training for a round-the-world expedition, as they flew first 32 hours and then 55 hours non-stop in a hot air balloon.