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Sharing another longer comic I made for The Nib back in 2016, since they'll be shutting up shop at the end of this year. This piece was such a great excuse to dig deep into the world of sail-powered cargo! I particularly loved talking to the team behind Ceiba, who are now years into their build and documenting the entire shipbuilding process along the way.
Freight sailing as high-tech solarpunk
Urgently sought: Alternative to conventional goods transportation by sea. Container ships, general cargo ships and tankers are responsible for almost three percent of global CO2 emissions. A look back could lead to a step forward from the climate Saul to the climate Paul: Why not ship goods under sail again?
Sustainable freight sailing gets a new boost. TOWT from France ignites the next stage with two modern two-masters.
The current cargo sailing movement uses old ships(Avontuur, Tres Hombres), builds new ones according to old plans(Ceiba) or plans new ones according to new plans(Veer Voyage).
Within this movement, the French organization Transoceanic Wind Transport/TOWT is one of the best organized players. As a brokerage agency, it arranges sea transportation with sailing ships that it does not own itself – such as the Avontuur or the Tres Hombres. After more than ten years of experience with old ships, TOWT has come to a drastic conclusion: Freight sailing needs to get out of its romantic niche.
If cargo sailing is to establish itself as a robust leg of maritime transportation, it must not remain confined to antique ships such as the Avontuur or the Tres Hombres. There are also no more trucks on the road whose engines are started with a crank. Transporting goods under sail is a high-tech task.
TOWT is tackling this task by building two of its own cargo sailing vessels with aluminum hulls and carbon masts. Two years ago, they placed the order with the French shipyard Piriou. The identical ships are being built at the Piriou shipyards in Romania and Vietnam.
Grain de Sail, also a French company, is implementing a very similar project. Their cargo ship Grain de Sail II is a little smaller at just over 50 meters in length, but is very close to the two TOWT ships.
The world’s largest cargo sailboat, Neoliner Origin, successfully completed its maiden transatlantic voyage!
The world’s largest cargo sailboat, Neoliner Origin, completed its first transatlantic voyage on 30 October, despite damage to one of its sails during the journey.
The 136-metre vessel had to rely partly on its auxiliary motor and remaining sail after the aft sail was damaged in a storm shortly after departure. The French-built roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cargo ship, equipped with two semi-rigid sails, first stopped at Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a French overseas territory near Canada, before continuing to Baltimore, United States.
Neoline, the company behind the project, said the damage reduced the ship’s full wind-powered performance. CEO Jean Zanuttini described the crossing as a valuable experience in handling large sails across the North Atlantic, especially during late-season storms. Despite the challenges, the vessel showed resilience, reaching its destination with only a brief delay at Saint Pierre.
The Neoliner Origin is designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80–90% compared with conventional diesel-powered cargo ships. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global shipping accounts for roughly 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Zanuttini emphasized the company’s goal to balance industrial needs with environmental responsibility, noting that wind propulsion is a free, abundant, and predictable energy source that does not harm ecosystems.
The UK’s National Clean Maritime Research Hub reports that wind propulsion systems like those on the Neoliner Origin can reduce emissions by over 50% on new vessels optimized for wind, while retrofitted ships can achieve reductions of 5–20%, rising to 30% under favorable wind conditions.
Designed by French naval engineering firm Mauric, the Neoliner Origin relies primarily on wind propulsion while maintaining reliable delivery schedules and efficient operation with a small crew. Inspired by historic sailing vessels, it incorporates modern systems such as advanced navigation, anti-drift mechanisms, and automated sail management to meet current safety and operational standards.
The ship can carry up to 5,300 tonnes of cargo, including containers, vehicles, machinery, and specialized goods. On its maiden voyage, it arrived in Baltimore with Renault vehicles, French liqueurs, machinery, and other products.
The modern sail-cargo ship Grain de Sail II is at South Street Seaport this week! (Although they leave tonight.)
The sailing vessel De Gallant and its crew suffered a serious incident on May 21, 2024
[from May 23, 2024] The Blue Schooner Company has received official word that the search and rescue operation for the two sailors still missing following the sinking of the sailing cargo De Gallant on Tuesday May 21 has been ended.
They had been actively sought by the U.S. Coast Guard, in charge of operations in the area, since Tuesday May 21, after the six other people on board had been located and winched off by helicopter in the early morning (local time).
Despite our insistence on continuing the search, the scale of the resources deployed, the excellence of the U.S. Coast Guard and the weather conditions in which it was conducted force us to consider the worst-case outcome.
It’s an upheaval for the company, the maritime community and the sail cargo community in particular, who are losing sailors and, above all, exceptional human beings.
For the sake of the families, we are unable to provide any further information on missing persons at this time.
Our thoughts and attention go out to their families and loved ones.
They are supported and monitored by a dedicated psychological support team, and we have been at their side since the start of operations.
This incident, which resulted in the loss of a well-proven vessel manned by experienced professional sailors, is a reminder of the dangers of navigation and the seafaring profession.
The sequence leading up to the sinking of the sailing cargo in the southern Bahamas remains to be clarified with the repatriated crew – including the captain, the relevant authorities and meteorological and technical analyses.
Preliminary information indicates an unexpected, extremely sudden and violent meteorological phenomenon while the ship was underway in light conditions. This would have led to its capsizing and subsequent loss at a depth of over 2,000 meters.
The six people rescued by helicopter on Tuesday and taken in by French diplomatic services were repatriated today. They received dedicated psychological care and were reunited with their loved ones.
The Blue Schooner Company would like to thank everyone for their support, and in particular the solidarity shown by the entire sailing community. Your presence is important to us, and will be all the more precious in the days and weeks to come.
Ships Rigs
I got some feedback that my recent posts on square riggers have been appreciated. :-) I think some people would like to learn more about the different types of sailing ships, so I’ll go ahead and try to explain at least a few of the more common types around. I’ll start out with the ‘ship’ rig and if you like it I’ll continue on with some of the others. :-) There aren’t many of ANY type of sailing…
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