A Dutch-made Noah's Ark "replica" is being auctioned off to the highest bidder
Johan Huibers hoped to win over new converts to Christianity. Instead, the boat became a punchline.
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A supposed replica of Noah’s Ark—no, not the one in Kentucky—is on the verge of being sold to the highest bidder.
In 2005, Dutch carpenter Johan Huibers began building what he hoped would be a life-size version of the Christian myth. It was an intriguing idea at fist; the $100 million monstrosity in Kentucky constructed by Answers in Genesis didn’t open until 2016. But Huibers’ version, which opened in 2007, was never meant to be biblically accurate, whatever that means. It was a fifth of the supposed size, made with modern wood, and only carried “farmyard animals.” It was also seven stories tall, not three, in order to make the best use of the space he had.
He argued that those details didn’t really matter since the people who might notice the differences were probably True Believers™ already. He was going after a different audience.
Still, that ship cost over $1.2 million (USD) to build and he needed to take out bank loans to make it happen. Unlike the more expensive version in Kentucky later on, Huibers hoped this ship would actually float so that it could function as a traveling museum of sorts. (The smaller size would allow it to traverse Dutch canals. It was only 70-meters long, less than half the length of the one overseen by Creationist Ken Ham.)
In 2010, Huibers sold that ship to a different guy, Aad Peters, while he went about making a slightly bigger boat that was 122-meters long.
Ark 2.0 took five years to build, cost €4 million ($4.23 million in USD), and opened in 2012. But interest in the new ship soon fizzled out and the entire enterprise shut down in 2016. The boat has just sat, unused, moored in the city of Krimpen aan den IJssel ever since.
Now Huibers is trying to pawn it off on just about anyone who’ll take it.
"We have been trying to find another partner for 8.5 years now and I have traveled all over the world, from South Korea to Brazil. But unfortunately, it has not yielded anything so far," says Huibers. "The ark has been idle for the past few years, and I feel the responsibility to ensure that it comes back to life."
The boat is on an auction website through December 18. Bidding began at €350,000 and it is at €365,000 as of this writing. It’s not clear who’s making the bids.
My immediate thought was that The Satanic Temple has the opportunity to do the funniest thing of all time… but Huibers insists he’ll only sell to someone with good intentions:
Huibers said he hoped a new owner would continue to use the Ark as a way to spread a message of faith, hope, love and perseverance. “If they want to turn it into a brothel I’m not selling”, he said.
You know, I wasn’t thinking that, but now that he mentions it, turning the boat into a place where people can enjoy the act that creates life seems very appropriate...
It’s unclear what he’ll do with the boat if the winning bidder isn’t to his liking. But at this point, after everything he’s put everyone else through, Huibers deserves to be saddled with a silly religious relic he can’t get rid of since no one else finds it valuable.
A quick tangent: After Aad Peters took control of Ark 1.0, he rechristened it the “VerhalenArk” (“Ark of Noah”) and turned it into a traveling museum. But it quickly became a punchline known more for its problems than its ability to win converts.
In 2018, after a storm, the boat broke free of its ropes and crashed into several boats docked along the IJsselmeer lake.
Peters told local media, “this has never happened before,” not realizing the irony of his entire business model.
The museum eventually reopened and even made its way to the city of Ipswich, in England, in 2019. It was supposed to be a three month stopover, but it was forced to stay there—and for good reason: The British government’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the boat was too unsafe. It was like driving a car that could break down at any moment.
It also cannot sail under a Dutch flag despite being registered there, key certification is missing and, since April 1, the vessel has been accruing a fine of £500 a day.
The Arks owners want to leave but the coastguard will not allow it to so an impossible stalemate has been reached. It has led to wrangling between the British and Dutch authorities which has culminated in the transport secretary Grant Shapps being asked to intervene.
…
The detention report, seen by this newspaper, suggests the Ark arrived with legally-required load line certificates missing, no tonnage information, and a range of other concerns such as overdue services for fire equipment, life jackets and life crafts.
A vessel that was supposed to be proof of the Bible’s truth had become a literal safety hazard. The most perfect metaphor imaginable.
It wasn’t allowed to leave port until 2021, when it finally returned to the Netherlands. It’s now a (stationary) museum in Vlissingen.
That anyone could convince themselves building this monstrosity was a good idea, speaks directly to what rational people are up against. Stupidity doesn't always win in the end, but common sense makes the news when it prevails.
Ark 1.0 impounded for safety violations is pretty funny. Imagine what Noah would have had to deal with:
"Mr Noah, I can't let you use this boat. There is insufficient sanitation and ventilation for live cargo, as well as no space for food stores. That violates animal welfare statutes. Also you have a noticeable lack of refrigeration to have the cargo meet food safety standards if you intend to butcher all the livestock to get around the sanitation and ventilation issue, especially for your planned length of voyage. Permits and registration denied!"