Dutch carpenter builds replica of Noah’s Ark…plans to sail to London Olympics

A Dutch carpenter is set to sail to the 2012 London Olympics with a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark, which he has built according to a blueprint set out in the Bible.

The capenter, Johan Huibers says he spent three years constructing the ark which cost him more than £1.03million.

He claims that his decision to replicate the true biblical proportions was inspired by a dream he had 20 years ago, in which he saw part of his native Netherlands submerged in a flood like the one featured in the Book of Genesis.

Apparently, this is what inspired him to replicate the story of Noah’s ark to life since he had the dream. Accoding to, MSNBC, Huibers built built a half-scale version and floated it along the country’s canals in 2004 with tourists flocking to see the smaller prototype when Mr Huibers opened it to the public, but the proceeds from admissions went straight back into funding his ambition to build a full-size ship as we now have it. 

 

Read more and see more photos of the ark at the cut...

 

 

 

The narrative of the ark, in which God commanded Noah to prepare for a great flood sent to purge the world of evil, specifies that the boat was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.

 

Mr Huibers converted this ancient unit of measurement, which is based on the length of the forearm, to come about a meaurment of  450ft long.

 

This puts the boat, which opens to the public on Monday at more than half the length of the Titanic and it has been nicknamed ‘Johan’s Ark’, .

 

Though it may not be able to shelter two of every animal, as the original story dictates, it can hold 1,500 people – not to mention a menagerie of life-size plastic creatures including giraffes, elephants and donkeys, as well as a few live chickens.

As it weighs in at almost 3,000 tons and is made from Swedish pine reinforced with steel, it may be hard to believe that the ark is, in fact, seaworthy.

It is docked in the western city of Dordrecht, where Mr Huibers, the owner of a construction company, pieced it together with the help of some friends and two of his children.

 

In the 15th century, the city was the site of one of the deadliest floods in history, named St Elizabeth’s flood, which is thought to have claimed as many as 10,000 lives.