How did ye build a 500 tonne prototype ?

Question: How did ye build a 500 tonne prototype ?
- Keywords:
  experiment,
  prototype,
  research
Asked by Louise Farragher to Ray on 9 Nov 2014.
- Ray Alcorn answered on 9 Nov 2014:
  
  We designed it on computer using CAD and then we had the hull built in a shipyard in Indonesia. We had it delivered on a ship called biglift which brought it all the way to Australia. My job was all the power generation equipment on the top deck which we I designed, built and installed once the hull arrived. Just like everything in engineering, you start with an idea on a piece of paper and develop that idea methodically using all the tools you have been taught… And in the end you get a finished product. It took 3 years.

Question: How did ye build a 500 tonne prototype ?