Climate solution: Sails are making a comeback in shipping to reduce their huge carbon footprint

By JOHN LEICESTER

SAINT-MALO, France (AP) — Had he continued working aboard fuel-powered cargo ships, Yann Jourdan estimates he would be making perhaps four times what he makes now as the captain of a sailboat that instead uses the clean energy of wind for transportation of goods used across the Atlantic.

But the dip in Jourdan’s salary gives him peace of mind. As his three-year-old son Marcel grows up, the burly French sailor wants to be able to explain what he has done to reduce the shipping industry’s enormous carbon footprint.

The international merchant fleet of more than 100,000 ships transports more than 80% of world trade. But it is also responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Without a rapid transition from dirty fuels to cleaner energy, pollution is expected to increase.

Mariners who advocate for wind energy say investors once viewed it as something of a joke. But as they usher in a comeback for sail-powered cargo ships, they’re having the last laugh.

“It is our job to prove that it is possible,” Jourdan said aboard the new cargo ship Grain de Sail II as it sailed from the French port of Saint-Malo on a recent fall day.

“It just makes sense to me, you know?” he said. “Like there’s only so much gas and there’s no wind.”

Modern technology recharges sailboats

The cleanest of the new ships driving the wind’s embryonic revival are almost purely sailing ships like the Grain de Sail II. It is half the length of a football field and can carry 350 tons of goods in its holds. Its diesel engine is used only for maneuvering in and out of port.

“We don’t just want to reduce the carbon footprint, we want to kill it,” said Jacques Barreau, co-founder of the company Grain de Sail along with his twin brother Olivier. They used profits from their chocolate and coffee roasting business in western France to finance their first sail-powered cargo ship, Grain de Sail I.

With its aluminum hull, two huge carbon fiber masts, mechanized systems for pulling and adjusting the billowing sails, and a bridge full of high-tech navigation equipment, the Grain de Sail II is a modern successor to the sailing clippers of yore.

The fastest of her four crossings to New York so far took 17 days, while the return trip to Saint-Malo only took 15 days.

“It’s a completely different type of sailing,” Barreau said. He foresees a future with “thousands of sailing cargo ships like this and even larger versions.”

Wind power also for huge transport companies

Motor-driven cargo ships are also being equipped with wind-assisted systems to save fuel, including the massive 340-meter-long Sea Zhoushan.

It transports iron ore and was built in China. On its deck are five large rotating rotors that use wind energy. When the ship entered service in 2021, Brazilian mining giant Vale said it expected fuel savings of up to 8% on its 40-day voyages between Brazil and China.

Finnish rotor manufacturer Norsepower says it has installed them on 16 ships since original equipment in 2014 and has commissioned installations for 13 additional ships.

Although wind-assisted ships make up only a tiny fraction of the world’s fleet, their numbers are growing at an unprecedented rate, says Clarksons Research, which tracks shipping data. By his count, 165 cargo ships are already using wind to some extent or are expected to install wind-assisted systems.

In the European Union, larger cargo ships will have to pay for some of their emissions from 2025 and adhere to new EU rules aimed at promoting low-carbon fuels.

Such pressure could increase the attractiveness of the wind.

“Ultimately, wind-assisted propulsion will support the global transition for even the largest segments of the cargo shipping sector,” said Bryan Comer, who leads shipping decarbonization efforts at the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation.

“We know it works, right? Originally, shipping was exclusively wind-powered.”

What happens when the wind doesn’t blow?

But unlike engines, wind cannot be switched on at the push of a button.

French shipowner Neoline is open about the fact that its new 136-meter (446-foot) freighter will use its diesel engine in 2025 when wind alone cannot achieve its target of 13-day sailings between the French port of Saint -Nazaire and Baltimore on the east coast of the USA.

“We strive for punctuality,” says Jean Zanuttini, President of Neoline. “At the beginning of the 20th century, it was not speed that killed working sailors, but rather the lack of punctuality.”

“We accept and recognize the fact that approximately 30% of our energy will come from a diesel system,” he said.

Still, the other 70% of Neoliner’s new giant sails – made from fiberglass panels rather than canvas – are expected to reduce fuel consumption and represent another advance for the wind.

“We will learn and improve,” Zanuttini said. “And tomorrow we will build ships that are larger, more specialized for specific goods and more efficient at every level.”

Grain de Sail III already on the drawing board

After the commercial launch of the Grain de Sail I in 2020 and the Grain de Sail II in March this year, the Barreau twins are working on financing a third boat, the Grain de Sail III. It will double the length of its predecessor and carry eight times more cargo, reducing costs. Grain de Sail hopes to have it operational by 2027.

However, the core philosophy remains unchanged: the larger ship will also only use wind power, except for maneuvers in ports. This strictness shrinks the carbon footprint of its ships to just a small fraction of the emissions of fuel-powered ships, the company said.

With a large gold ring in his left ear and a bushy beard, Jourdan looks like a pirate as he examines the Grain de Sail II’s rigging, tugging at the ropes to check that they are taut in the wind.

He vows there will be no going back to gasoline-powered aircraft carriers.

“To me it’s a dirty business now,” he said. “I just want to do something I’m proud of.”

___

Associated Press climate and environmental reporting receives funding from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. At AP.org you can find the AP Standards for Working with Charities, a list of supporters and supported areas.