Man to cross Atlantic Ocean in barrel-shaped capsule [photos]

A Frenchman has set off to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, using ocean currents alone to propel him.

Jean-Jacques Savin, 71, left El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands and hopes to reach the Caribbean in as little as three months.  

His reinforced capsule contains a sleeping bunk, kitchen and storage.  

He will drop markers along the way to help oceanographers study Atlantic currents.

The weather is great. I've got a swell of one metre (3ft) and I'm moving at 2-3km/h, he told AFP news agency by telephone.

For the time being my capsule is behaving very, very well and I've got favourable winds forecast until Sunday.

Mr Savin is a former military paratrooper and has also worked as a park ranger and a pilot.

He believes ocean currents alone will carry his resin-coated plywood vessel about 4,500km (2,800 miles) to the Caribbean.