Cargo sailing ships: Green transport novelty or here to stay?

A cargo sailing ship, the Anemos, recently left France to undertake its maiden commercial voyage of approximately 12-15 days to New York with 1,100 tonnes of goods on board, including 15,000 bottles of Burgundy wines.

Operated by Brittany-based shipping company, TOWT (TransOceanic Wind Transport), its CEO, Guillaume Le Grand describes the vessel as “a technological marvel that propels itself more than 90% of the time by wind power. It has an average speed of 10 knots.

Earlier this year, a cargo sailboat of another French company, Grain de Sail, crossed the Atlantic to New York from St Malo almost at its full capacity of 350 tonnes.

These are just two examples of a bygone freight transport mode that is making waves against a backdrop of energy transition: The reduction and eventual phasing-out of fossil fuels and the adoption of green alternatives to combat climate change.

Back in the 19th century, wind-powered cargo ships were the workhorses of international trade. Then the steam engine came along and saw them superseded by much larger, coal-fired vessels.

Today, moves are underway to wean giant container ships off heavy marine fuel oil – the sector being a major emitter of CO2 – and move to cleaner power solutions but the process is likely to be slow and costly.

Cynics would suggest that in offering something approaching emission-free shipping, cargo sailing ship operators are sure to find customers keen to market a pro-environment image and diminish their carbon footprint but that the modal shift represents a drop in the ocean when it comes to the greening of freight transport.

The Shipper: Maison Joseph Drouhin

The shipper behind the Burgundy wine consignment being carried by the Anemos is the Maison Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and whose vineyards span 100 hectares.

Its president, Frédéric Drouhin, explained that the company had been shipping wine by air but two years ago decided to look at alternative means of transport that incorporated climate protection and decarbonization.

"We decided to support TOWT and make a long-term commitment. We are planning to do two shipments a year over three years. We're not sending a pallet of wines. 15,000 bottles is a full truckload.”

Weighing up the pros and cons of cargo sailboats, Drouhin noted that the temperatures in the holds are cool and stable, and this has a positive effect on the quality of the wine, unlike containers.

"Also, with these ships being relatively small in size, they can be loaded and unloaded very quickly. They don't wait outside the harbor like container ships when the ports are congested. It's quite fast, so we save time.

“However, volumes are small compared to what we usually ship but it's a start and we wanted to see what was possible. The capacity provided by the vessels is

going to increase, and although this transport mode won't be able to replace container transport, it will complement our distribution offering," Drouhin added.

Onward Voyage

At the end of August, the Anemos will set sail from the US to Colombia, where it will fill its holds with coffee beans before returning to the French port of Le Havre.

What the future holds for cargo sailboats is open to debate. Proponents highlight its potential to serve niche markets on both short-sea and deep-sea routes.

Certainly, TOWT sees nothing but strong growth in demand in the coming years and plans to have a fleet of eight vessels in service by 2027. Grain de Sail is also set to beef up its fleet to offer more frequent departures.

But investment in wind-powered vessels is expensive and a key element in the financing is likely to be a commitment by shippers to sign long-term transport contracts of five, eight, 10 years duration - to help cover construction costs.

Meanwhile, as companies like TOWT and Grain de Sail enter an extremely competitive freight market, questions continue to be asked about the commercial viability of transporting cargo on sailboats.

On the one hand, they are up against traditional ocean freight carriage with its relatively very long lead times and high carbon impact. The downside is that the additional cost per pallet on cargo sailing vessels could be as much as 40%-50%. However, this may not be prohibitive to some forwarders who prioritize an efficient global logistics solution on a human scale and where there is less risk of disruption to customers’ supply chains. And with slow steaming now an inherent feature of containership voyaging (ironically to reduce the carbon footprint) the transit times of sailing vessels might be more competitive with containership schedules in the not-too-distant future.

Logistics Hub

Grain de Sail has previously alluded to setting up a logistics hub on the quayside in Saint-Malo and an equivalent facility on the US side via a partner.

It is also focused on eliminating upstream and downstream handling operations as groupage/de-consolidation is carried out directly in the ship's hold, enabling lead times to be kept around 20 days, compared with 25 to 30 days for standard maritime groupage – under normal conditions.

Then, arguably to a far lesser extent, there is the competition from air freight, with its shorter lead times and high carbon impact but which is very expensive comparatively.

State and European Union subsidies and grants in support of zero and low-emission transport would enhance the competitiveness of cargo sailboats but there is little certainty that funding would be made available given that stretched public finances are already backing several ‘green’ transport initiatives.