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The world’s largest wind-powered cargo ship has embarked on a transatlantic voyage, loaded with a cargo hold full of fancy wine and jam.
Sailing Vessel (SV) “Anemos” launched its maiden voyage on August 16 from a port in Le Havre, northern France, headed towards New York, according to TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT), the company that designed the novel boat.
Onboard the cargo ship are nearly 1,000 pallets of alcohol, including wine and cognac, as well as jam and French luxury swimwear. Part of the cargo is being shipped on behalf of Pernod Ricard, the huge French liquor company that produces a bunch of well-known booze brands, including Absolut Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Beefeater Gin, and Kahlúa.
The ship measures 81 meters (265 feet) long and 13 meters (42 feet) high, making it the biggest wind-powered cargo ship of its kind in use today. It’s even larger than the colossal tea clipper ships used to transport cargo across the world in the 19th century.
Its name – “Anemos” – stems from the Greek word Ἄνεμοι, meaning "winds". By utilizing the inexhaustible potential of wind, the boat aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent compared to container ships. It will also slash the amount of toxic air pollutants, like sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.
By 2025, TOWT believes they can offer low-carbon transport for over 72,000 tonnes of goods per year and prevent 9,600 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually.
Around 90 percent of traded goods are carried overseas through shipping and international sea trade is only set to increase in the years ahead. Although indispensable to life in the 21st century, the shipping industry is deeply reliant on fossil fuels and pumps out a massive amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
Shipping vessels account for 3.1 percent of global carbon emissions per year – that’s more than the sixth biggest nation emitter, which in 2022 was Brazil. In other words, if shipping were a country, the emissions would be the sixth-biggest in the world.
While it's hard to imagine that wind will replace all of this international transit, it’s evident that many companies are looking towards sail-powered boats to decarbonize the shipping industry.
Back in August 2023, the Pyxis Ocean ship set sail from a shipyard in China across the Pacific towards Brazil, retrofitted with two 37.5-meter (123-foot) high sails called WindWings. It was only a test run, but the journey offered some hope for the world’s carbon woes.
