The ship's power is set to come from solar, wind and wave power with biofuel in case nature doesn't cooperate -- when the vessel isn't adrift via ocean currents.

ENGADGET: SeaOrbiter to begin construction by year's end, project price tag clocks in at $52.7 million

"It's always gone to the last day of the season before, we've always been in there fighting and haven't been adrift as badly as we are now, " he said.

BBC: Survival is unlikely - Finnigan

Likewise, when Ford bid auf wiedersehen to their German Merkur brand or when Chrysler furled the sails on Plymouth, owners of these vehicles weren't suddenly cast adrift.

CNN: The fate of four GM brands