The global marine industry has been trying to reduce emissions from shipping for years, and making a dent in the 2%-3% of global CO2 emissions from moving 90% of the world's cargo would be no mean feat.
From establishing global fuel standards to creating a 'remedial units' system to offset excess emissions to assisting developing countries with capacity building, a lot of work is underway to clean up shipping. We're also seeing new approaches to crafting the ships themselves, and a French firm is among the latest to try something new on the high seas.
Co-founded by record-setting yacht-racing champion Francois Gabart, Vela Transport hopes to cut shipping emissions by 99% with its service. The idea is to use the power of the wind to propel its specialized sailboats across the Atlantic Ocean with palletized cargo on board.
Vela intends to use its own fleet of trimarans – three-hulled boats made from aluminum and measuring about 220 ft (67 m) long with enough room for 415 tons of goods loaded on 600 pallets.
That's about a fifth of a conventional container ship, notes The Wall Street Journal; it also reported that Vela has inked a deal with logistics giant DHL to ship goods on a transatlantic route starting next year.
These trimarans will be able to hit a speed of 14 knots, or around 16 mph (26 km/h), by using weather routing techniques to catch the wind in their sails and go from Bayonne, France, to New York in about 13 days. According to WSJ, that's four days longer than a container ship's journey between those points.
Over the next four years, Vela plans to make one departure per week and reach an annual capacity of 48,000 tons on its US-France route in both directions. It'll carry wine, pharmaceuticals, textiles, furniture, and other products. The company notes that, with certain kinds of goods, shipping costs via its service can be five times cheaper than air freight.
That's not a lot to go on at the moment, but the world could use every feasible zero-emissions option for shipping we can get, seeing as how maritime trade volumes are now in the ballpark of 12 billion tons of cargo a year. We've seen numerous other types of ships and fuel technologies being developed and experimented with over the years: batteries stored in swappable containers, onboard carbon capture, and turning to methanol and hydrogen as cleaner fuels.
While Vela's venture sounds promising, it presently sounds suitable for specific types of cargo and certain routes with predictable winds. That may not cut it for higher volume goods, longer distances, and industries built around quick turnaround times.
As such, wind-powered sailboats likely won't replace giant container ships powered by fossil fuels. They could, however, take on a portion of their payloads in the years to come, and contribute to a reduction in emissions overall.
Source: Vela (LinkedIn), The Wall Street Journal
