French startup claims its state-of-the-art sail will cut shipping emissions by 20 percent...

[Cal Jeffrey]

In a nutshell: A French startup, Airseas, has a not-so-novel approach to reducing fossil fuel emissions--tie a big kite to your ship. It is developing a 1,000-square-meter parasail called the "Seawing" that helps pull vessels across the ocean. It plans to begin manufacturing the Seawing after the construction of its fabrication facility completes in 2026.

The Seawing aims to act as a retrofitted device. Therefore simply attaching it to the front of a ship will not cut it. Airseas says that its system will handle the complicated job of deploying the sail with little effort from the ship's crew. Although the company did not reveal explicit details of the Seawing's deployment methods, it tested a prototype that successfully launches, ascends, descends, and "lands" with only a few button pushes.

Supposedly, the Seawing will take some of the stress off a vessel's engines and thus require less fuel to propel the ship. However, Airseas did not broach how the Seawing works when the ship travels against a headwind or moves faster than a tailwind. Presumably, most ships are more speedy than wind, or we'd still be sailing products across the ocean in the import/export business.

ðÂÂÂAn important step for shipping's decarbonisation. And a big step for Airseas' crew onboard Louis Dreyfus Armateurs' Ville de Bordeaux!

Let's reclaim the millennium-old, powerful and 100% renewable energy of the wind!#windpropulsion #cleantech pic.twitter.com/Dd72VW8vyg

– Airseas (@Airseas_Tech) May 24, 2023

Regardless of the answers to those questions, Airseas is continuing testing on actual commercial voyages. It has partnered with Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Airbus, which transport aircraft components between Europe and the US. The company also inked a 20-year deal with Japanese shipping company "K" Line to outfit up to 50 ships with Seawings. Airseas estimates that by 2031, its technologically advanced sail can reduce sea transport emissions by up to 20 percent.

With feasibility, traction, and mechanics testing underway, the company will next focus on gathering performance data, dynamic flight testing, and fine-tuning the automation system before going into mass production. Even though its facility won't open until 2026, Airseas is already beginning to grow its staff. It plans on adding 70 new positions by the end of the year, bringing its staff headcount to 190.

"These are industrial, local jobs, which will enable the delivery of our green technology by 2031. To achieve this, we are currently seeking and gaining new partners," said General Manager Pierre-Yves Fouché.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/99278-french-startup-claims-state-art-sail-cut-shipping.html

 

[yRaz]

Wind powered ships? next they'll be trying to make use believe that wood floats...

In all seriousness, I know someone who's very into yachting and he has told me the only way sailing around the world is affordable, even for the ultra wealthy, is to use sails to cut down on fuel costs. With fuel being the biggest cost in shipping products I'm surprised it's taken this long for the idea to gain any traction. This is even more flabbergasting when you consider that most of the people who are already doing this are wealthy business people looking to reduce costs....

 

[winjer]

Around 150 years ago, we had the first transatlantic steamships. But because the tech was relatively new, thus unproven and a bit unreliable, ships would still have sails.

I guess we'll go back to old sailing tech, to make new tech.

 

[Kashim]

This is a ridiculous idea. What are the odds the wind is blowing in the exact direction you're traveling and faster than you're already going? This is like attaching a horse in front of your SUV to reduce emissions.

 

[Lew Zealand]

This is a ridiculous idea. What are the odds the wind is blowing in the exact direction you're traveling and faster than you're already going? This is like attaching a horse in front of your SUV to reduce emissions.

Mmmm, don't sail much do you? You don't need the wind to blow in the same direction you're going to make effective use of a sail. People have been sailing for hundreds of years and there's a good chance they know a hell of a lot more about that than some random internet commenter.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Foredeck experience - 12 years. Might work following the trade winds.
Should be combined with air bubbler under the hull to reduce drag. https://safety4sea.com/cm-how-blowing-bubbles-under-ships-can-reduce-emissions/

 

[Achaios]

I lol'd.

Tell them to make a sail for a 300000 m/t Deadweight Very Large Crude Oil Carrier.

Tonnage of vsl in the OP is what - 10000 m/t Displacement?

The problem isn't 10000 m/t displ vsls - it's the VLCC's and ULCC's and Post-Panamax VSLs - the ships that emit most greenhouse gases.

Imagine sailing Southbound off Durban - RSA facing the world's most powerful sustained contrary oceanic currents plus abnormal waves.

This is just a PR stunt intended for the profane - ppl who the only experience they've had with merchant vessels is watching them sailing into NYC harbor to discharge from the luxury of their Upper East Side mansions.

Pathetic.

 

[yRaz]

I lol'd.

Tell them to make a sail for a 300000 m/t Deadweight Very Large Crude Oil Carrier.

Tonnage of vsl in the OP is what - 10000 m/t Displacement?

The problem isn't 10000 m/t displ vsls - it's the VLCC's and ULCC's and Post-Panamax VSLs - the ships that emit most greenhouse gases.

Imagine sailing Southbound off Durban - RSA facing the world's most powerful sustained contrary oceanic currents plus abnormal waves.

This is just a PR stunt intended for the profane - ppl who the only experience they've had with merchant vessels is watching them sailing into NYC harbor to discharge from the luxury of their Upper East Side mansions.

Pathetic.

Oddly enough, the larger the vessel the more efficient it is. Sails would be most effective on smaller vessels. A consequence of this is that would become more efficient to use many, smaller vessels with sails instead of "a few" large ships that don't have them.

Or we could just have nuclear powered vessels that emit zero carbon but that'll never happen. Ever since Japan had the genius idea of putting a nuclear reactor on a fault line in a tsunami zone the world seems to be anti-nuclear. Meanwhile, I believe it's the guys who looked at the proposal and said, "oh, yeah, looks good, bud!" should be blamed.

Although, one reason "bunker fuel" is used in this massive ships is that it's essentially a waste product of petroleum distillation and we have nothing to use it for aside from pave our roads in the form of asphalt or just burn it so we can ship products across the planet. Just think of how cheap that means bunker fuel is, it's cheaper to manufacture things on other continents with slave labor and ship it here using bunker fuel than it is to actually pay someone a decent wage to make it.

 

[Gars]

Yeah, then the captain of the iceberg will be awarded 'oredn Putina'

 

[noel24]

I'm sorry, but I read about using sails as a help in trans oceanic transport like decade ago and It never materialised. So, what have changed?

 

[human7]

Mmmm, don't sail much do you? You don't need the wind to blow in the same direction you're going to make effective use of a sail. People have been sailing for hundreds of years and there's a good chance they know a hell of a lot more about that than some random internet commenter.

I thought Kashim's was a satirical comment until I read the last sentence. I'm still half tempted to believe it is - how can the general principles of sailing not be common knowledge? Ah well. Does remain to be seen how effective this kite is, though I'm optimistic.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'm not sure if its hilarious, incompetent, intentional maliciousness, ece; but somehow it seems all the "green" ideas are trying to revert the last 200 years of human history. Urbanize as many people as possible, sailing ships, reliance on mass transportation, cars that can barely travel out of their own zip code, reducing or eliminating access to things like gas while building a grid that will blackout if a cloud goes over it, forcing a reduction in electrical power, lowering food output via banning fertilizer, ece.

I wonder if I will end up getting the B&n hammer for noticing this.

Mmmm, don't sail much do you? You don't need the wind to blow in the same direction you're going to make effective use of a sail. People have been sailing for hundreds of years and there's a good chance they know a hell of a lot more about that than some random internet commenter.

People also stopped building sailing cargo ships for a reason. They are monstrously slow, and with the weight of modern freight vessels it will take orders of magnitude longer to move anything.

Wind powered ships? next they'll be trying to make use believe that wood floats...

In all seriousness, I know someone who's very into yachting and he has told me the only way sailing around the world is affordable, even for the ultra wealthy, is to use sails to cut down on fuel costs. With fuel being the biggest cost in shipping products I'm surprised it's taken this long for the idea to gain any traction. This is even more flabbergasting when you consider that most of the people who are already doing this are wealthy business people looking to reduce costs....

Genius idea, the wealthy could start using that money to localize production instead of shipping everything around the world to save 5c per product. Local production is far more environmentally friendly to, counting on the absent environmental legislation in the manufacturing centers of asia.

I thought Kashim's was a satirical comment until I read the last sentence. I'm still half tempted to believe it is - how can the general principles of sailing not be common knowledge? Ah well. Does remain to be seen how effective this kite is, though I'm optimistic.

Sailing, believe it or not, is not something that is taught in schools, since it is a technology that was largely abandoned 150 years ago. We dont teach kids how to make soap or ride a horse either. Unless somebody studies it in their spare time, nobody would inherently know that sailing vessels can sail without the wind blowing the correct direction.

 

[Kashim]

Mmmm, don't sail much do you? You don't need the wind to blow in the same direction you're going to make effective use of a sail. People have been sailing for hundreds of years and there's a good chance they know a hell of a lot more about that than some random internet commenter.

Right, they've been sailing for hundreds of years and NO ONE has thought of this idea until now. These guys must be geniuses. Technology that is hundreds of years old is somehow suddenly "state-of-the-art". Also, this isn't a sail, it's more similar to a kite than a sail. So your snarky comment about being an expert on the subject is pointless. Trying to pull a very heavy object with a kite when the object is already most likely traveling faster than the wind you're trying to use. Yeah, you don't have to be a sailing expert to realize this idea is dumb.

 

[Kashim]

I got an even better idea than a sail. Why don't we attach whales to the back of the ship and have them push the ship in the direction we're going? Can't get much greener than that.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I got an even better idea than a sail. Why don't we attach whales to the back of the ship and have them push the ship in the direction we're going? Can't get much greener than that.

There's whole schools of fish down there that are jobless, we could tackle unemployment and be green at the same time!

 

[yRaz]

There's whole schools of fish down there that are jobless, we could tackle unemployment and be green at the same time!

Brilliant, imagine all the money that could put into the economy by hiring fish, it's a completely untapped market. Just imagine what fish would be like as consumers, we'd be creating an entirely new industry!

 

[ScottSoapbox]

The subheading of this is gold. Nailed it. Props to Cal.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Right, they've been sailing for hundreds of years and NO ONE has thought of this idea until now. These guys must be geniuses. Technology that is hundreds of years old is somehow suddenly "state-of-the-art". Also, this isn't a sail, it's more similar to a kite than a sail. So your snarky comment about being an expert on the subject is pointless. Trying to pull a very heavy object with a kite when the object is already most likely traveling faster than the wind you're trying to use. Yeah, you don't have to be a sailing expert to realize this idea is dumb.

You said: "What are the odds the wind is blowing in the exact direction you're traveling and faster than you're already going?"

My response said that sails don't need your set of circumstances to work, they work in many other wind directions and speeds. I said nothing about the idea in this article.

You're right about it being more of a kite than a sail. Hell, a sail would be better than this thing.

 

[Puiu]

Maybe useful for smaller ships, but this will have zero effect on big ships. And it doesn't look to be easy to use and it's not even a proper sail.

 

[sdms96825]

I got an even better idea than a sail. Why don't we attach whales to the back of the ship and have them push the ship in the direction we're going? Can't get much greener than that.

Well, some intelligence agencies already use Dolphins, so maybe whales are next? Didn't Capt. Ahab already try that with the Pequod?

 

[bviktor]

Oddly enough, the larger the vessel the more efficient it is. Sails would be most effective on smaller vessels. A consequence of this is that would become more efficient to use many, smaller vessels with sails instead of "a few" large ships that don't have them.

Or we could just have nuclear powered vessels that emit zero carbon but that'll never happen. Ever since Japan had the genius idea of putting a nuclear reactor on a fault line in a tsunami zone the world seems to be anti-nuclear. Meanwhile, I believe it's the guys who looked at the proposal and said, "oh, yeah, looks good, bud!" should be blamed.

Although, one reason "bunker fuel" is used in this massive ships is that it's essentially a waste product of petroleum distillation and we have nothing to use it for aside from pave our roads in the form of asphalt or just burn it so we can ship products across the planet. Just think of how cheap that means bunker fuel is, it's cheaper to manufacture things on other continents with slave labor and ship it here using bunker fuel than it is to actually pay someone a decent wage to make it.

You don't seem to understand the problem at all. No one cares how cheap the fuel is. The problem is emissions, not costs. 1 out of 6 people die of pollution. It's pretty f*cking expensive, isn't it?

 

[kukoljaleksandar]

Wind powered ships? next they'll be trying to make use believe that wood floats...

In all seriousness, I know someone who's very into yachting and he has told me the only way sailing around the world is affordable, even for the ultra wealthy, is to use sails to cut down on fuel costs. With fuel being the biggest cost in shipping products I'm surprised it's taken this long for the idea to gain any traction. This is even more flabbergasting when you consider that most of the people who are already doing this are wealthy business people looking to reduce costs....

Idea was tried and abandoned. Too slow, too unreliable. Not useful for huge cargo ships, instead it needs multiple smaller cargo ships. But that increases costs, so it is not cheap to import from the other side of the world anymore. Localize production, boom, problem solved. Not possible for everything, but still much better than current status.

I lol'd.

Tell them to make a sail for a 300000 m/t Deadweight Very Large Crude Oil Carrier.

Tonnage of vsl in the OP is what - 10000 m/t Displacement?

The problem isn't 10000 m/t displ vsls - it's the VLCC's and ULCC's and Post-Panamax VSLs - the ships that emit most greenhouse gases.

Imagine sailing Southbound off Durban - RSA facing the world's most powerful sustained contrary oceanic currents plus abnormal waves.

This is just a PR stunt intended for the profane - ppl who the only experience they've had with merchant vessels is watching them sailing into NYC harbor to discharge from the luxury of their Upper East Side mansions.

Pathetic.

Yes, that is reason why it failed first time, too. But when you need to do some money laundering, no idea is pathetic

You don't seem to understand the problem at all. No one cares how cheap the fuel is. The problem is emissions, not costs. 1 out of 6 people die of pollution. It's pretty f*cking expensive, isn't it?

Localize production, not globalize production. Boom, problem reduced by order of magnitude.

While localizing some productions are impossible (you can not grow lemons in Canada, and expensive electronics is hard to produce without serious investments) there are zero logic in current status now.

Hell, company I know of import vitamins for dietetic supplements from Germany (where actually just reseller is, and vitamins are produced in China) to make dietetic supplements and export them to Vietnam and Indonesia? There is no amount of technology that can make such combination green. And it is very common today (90% of the market).

 

[Uncle Al]

Of course, if the ship is moving faster than the wind, the sail will be useless .....

 

[human7]

Sailing, believe it or not, is not something that is taught in schools.

No, it isn't, but the general ideas of how it works are pretty commonly found, and it's often mentioned in history classes or textbooks about how sails were invented that could allow one to travel against the wind. I don't expect the average person to be an expert at it, but I do expect average person should know that you don't need the wind to go in the exact same direction you are traveling to get there. Maybe I have too much faith in humanity.

 

[Jack77]

This is even more flabbergasting when you consider that most of the people who are already doing this are wealthy business people looking to reduce costs....

Rich people sometimes become rich by trying to compensate an emotional vulnerability. As money doesn't really satisfy anything, they continue hoping that someday more money will offer redemption. So being greedy may "help". Now, being greedy certainly helps if you are trying to keep up with the next Joneses up the ladder.