A Frenchman who gained fame for swimming the English Channel with no arms or legs has set himself a new challenge to cross five continents in waters marked by sharks, poisonous jellyfish, icy currents and cargo ships.

Philippe Croizon, 43, who lost both his arms and legs in an electrical accident 17 years ago, has begun preparing one year ahead to swim hundreds of kilometres from May to August 2012.

“My crossing of the Channel was a message of hope and of life to all my fellow companions in misfortune,” Mr Croizon said, who will be accompanied by long-distance swimming champion Arnaud Chassery, 34.

“We intend to accomplish an act of peace, solidarity and sharing with all able-bodied and handicapped men, of all skin colours, cultures and backgrounds combined,” he said.

Doctors were forced to amput-ate his limbs after he was hit by a 20,000-volt charge in 1994. As he recovered in hospital he saw a TV documentary about a Channel swimmer and an ambition was born. He used special prostheses with flippers for the crossing.

In the first round the pair will swim some 20 km in the Pacific Ocean separating Wutung, an isolated fishing outpost in Papua New Guinea, and another coastal village in Indonesia.

The swimmers will face strong currents in waters there, known as a habitat of sharks and the extremely poisonous Irukandji jellyfish that can kill a person in less than 20 minutes if its sting wound is untreated.

If all goes well as planned, the two men will then swim 25 km in June in the Gulf of Aqaba from Jordan to the Egyptian coast.

The following month Croizon and Chassery will continue continent-hopping from Africa to Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar, rubbing shoulders with cargo ships that sail through this chokepoint.

The most spectacular event will be reserved for the end, in August: the Bering Strait separating Russia with the Asian continent – a round-trip of a dozen kilometres in waters close to zero degrees Celsius.