Dutch man builds modern-day replica of Noah's Ark

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
6/22/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Builder hopes to sail the ship down the River Thames in London

Wealthy Dutch builder John Huibers is almost done with his recreation of Noah's Ark. The ark sits in a shipyard and is identical in size to the one in the Book of Genesis, 300 cubits in length, and 30 cubits high, and 50 cubits wide.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Huibers, an apocalyptic dream of massive flooding prompted him to build the vessel. "I dreamed that a part of Holland was flooded," Huibers explained in a "Today" show segment. "The next day, I get the idea to build an ark."

Huibers hopes to have the ark completed by next month. Oddly enough, this is not the first time he has attempted to create Noah's ark. He built a smaller one, though still massive, and had opened the door to visitors in 2007. The ark drew more than 600,000 worldwide visitors in about three years.

Though the 60-year-old Huibers was able to make profit from the previous ark, he insists that his ultimate goal is to point people to the Bible and to God.

He also says that the new ark is a live example of the story of Noah and the ark will also include live animals. Huibers doesn't know where he wants to take it once he's finished. Three places are hopeful they will be able to host the ark as a tourist attraction.

A small town in Netherlands, Dordrecht hopes to get the ark. Recently, the water levels have been higher in that area, devastating the farmlands due to flooding. City officials hope that by hosting the ark it will save the town one way or another, as it draws tourists.

Investors from Texas have also asked Huibers to bring the ark to Galveston. Huibers says he wants to take it to London, he indicated to the Times. He is hoping it will be there by next summer during the Olympic Games.

Huibers says he want to float the ark down the River Thames in advance of the 2012 Olympics.

Some may note that in the film "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore predicted the Netherlands would be flooded if the ice on Greenland melted. Ad while such a dream inspired the project, Huibers doesn't believe his ship would really provide much sanctuary in such a cataclysmic event. "No I don't think so," he told NBC News.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Ark, Noah's Ark, Netherlands, dream, Old Testament

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1 - 1 of 1 Comments

mikem
1 year ago
The Bible says: "The sluice gates of the firmament opened." To me that means clouds didn't form, it wasn't just rain, but an eyewitness description of water coming in from space. Perhaps the Earth was moving through a swath of ice particles from a crumbled comet, or a partial ice belt around the Sun. I think this is really cool - a real full scale Ark. Perhaps Mr. Huibers' art presages the discovery of the original Ark that the Bible says landed on "the mountains of Ararat," which oddly is the highest mountain on Earth from base uninterruptedly to summit. You'd think if there really is such a loss of glacial ice that the original Ark might become visible from space. Has any one been looking at recent satellite photos of Ararat??

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