How maritime sailing transport continues to grow

Around fifty ships worldwide are currently equipped with sail systems in the pursuit of decarbonisation, a figure that is expected to double in the first half of 2025. While maritime sailing transport is growing, there are still some steps needed to structure it better. Here is a summary from several players in a sector which is very well established in Brittany.

“Of the 60,000 cargo ships that operate in the world, around fifty – mainly bulk carriers and ro-ro ships – are equipped with sail systems,” opens Lise Detrimont, Delegate General of the Wind Ship association. “That may not sound many, but in 2023, there were only around twenty, so that means that things are certainly moving in the right direction.”

Among them are more than ten French ships. Some use wind as their primary propulsion, such as the two Grain de Sail ships, the two Towt ships, or Persévérance, intended for Jean-Louis Etienne’s Polar POD expedition. Others use wind as auxiliary propulsion: this is the case of Canopée, a 121-metre roll-on/roll-off ship equipped with four articulated wings, intended for transporting elements of the Ariane 6 rocket, which has already completed six transatlantic crossings and saves 3.5 tonnes of fuel – a reduction in consumption of 25 to 50% – every day thanks to these systems.

There are also several reconfigured ships, such as the oil tanker Alcyone, now equipped with a rotating mast system; the roll-on/roll-off ship MN Pélican, on which the Wisamo inflatable wings developed by Michelin have been successfully tested; and the gas tanker Forbin, on which Beyond The Sea, the company created by Yves Parlier, is currently installing its kite wings; or the Ville de Bordeaux ro-ro, which transports aircraft components for Airbus and has opted for an other original wing system.

For the summer transport of passengers to the islands of southern Brittany, there are also the boats of Sailcoop, Iliens and Passeur des îles, which is finishing the construction of a 16m aluminum monohull. And, also in the fishing sector, there are also smaller work vessels such as Skravik.

“The order book for the sail powered sector continues to grow with 120 new vessels which should be set to be launched between 2025 and 2027,” continues Lise Detrimont. Here again, French projects are at the forefront, including the Neoliner ro-ro, the two luxury liners ordered from Chantiers de l’Atlantique by Orient Express, a brand of the Accor group (the first will enter service in 2026), three ships for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, the Vela trimaran, as well as six new boats for Towt and the Selar boat, intended for sailing cruises in the Arctic.

And container ships in the pipeline

There may not yet be any container ships equipped with sail systems but several are in the pipeline. The future Grain de Sail III, a 110-meter boat, is expected in 2027, while the shipping company Zéphyr et Borée, specializing in decarbonized transport, is supporting the Windcoop and Williwaw projects. The latter concerns five container ships for which, according to Nils Joyeux, President of Zéphyr & Borée, “financing should be completed in the first half of 2025, we have secured 260,000 containers per year with shippers.”

While projects related to the decarbonization of maritime transport are developing all along the French coast, in fact the majority of the players in this ecosystem are located in Brittany. This includes the SolidSail Mast Factory, which has just built a factory in Lanester intended for the construction of SolidSail masts. “The first tests of the factory will take place in the first half of 2025, before the real launch of production,” emphasizes Luc Talbourdet, Director of Avel Robotics, which is one of the five Breton companies (with Multiplast, CDK Group, Lorima and SMM), all associated with Chantiers de l’Atlantique on this ambitious project. “To be competitive, we had to build scale,” he continues. “The objective is to manufacture six masts per year, compared to only two and a half currently, and then one per month. We have already made the masts of the Neoliner and will build the six spars of the two boats ordered by Orient Express. The order book is filling up and validates the option of having created this collective company.”

What about the regulations for these sail-powered vessels? “There are none, or very marginal ones,” responds Maximilien Basquin, CEO of Bureau Véritas Marine & Offshore, the classification agency that joined the Wind Ship association in 2019. “So we have taken the lead by updating regulations from the 1980s that we are gradually developing as we work on the projects. It focuses on the entire study structural design of the rigging and its installation on the ship, as well as the entire safety of the system.” Other major classification societies have also taken an interest in the subject with their own regulations, he specifies.

At the same time, “There is a range of regulations to encourage shipowners to reduce their carbon footprint,” emphasizes Nils Joyeux. These regulations, which exist at the level of the European Union and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), “are however not harmonized, and therefore not sufficiently readable and especially not dissuasive enough,” comments Lise Detrimont, who adds: “For example, the FuelEU Maritime regulation requires ships to reduce their greenhouse gases by 2% by 2025 and by 6% by 2030. And from 2025, shipowners will have to pay the quotas linked to the tons of carbon emitted by their ships. This last measure is interesting, but it is not enough. Shipowners will prefer to pay penalties rather than invest in sailing solutions that will nevertheless be considerably improved in the years to come.”

For Nils Joyeux: “The additional cost of sails and the construction of the boat – to offer an equal load capacity, the boat must be larger – the return on investment is not fast enough for the moment. Shipping companies are not taking the risk today and are waiting to see if it will take off.” Hence the need for promoters of wind propulsion to prove that performance can be achieved and to convince shippers, and more broadly elected officials and the general public, that eco-responsibility can rhyme with economic viability.

Regarding the operating cost of ships, Lise Detrimont explains: “There is no surcharge linked to an increase in the crew, because the maneuvers are largely automated and the fuel savings make it possible to lower the fuel which is related to the level of the intensity of use of the sailboat. The margin achieved will increase with the increase in fuel costs and the penalties associated with its consumption.” 

The last obstacle which, for the moment, is holding back shipowners is, according to the general delegate of the Wind Ship association “the intermittency of the wind: there are maritime routes, such as transatlantic ones, which are extremely interesting, but certain other maritime zones are less conducive to constant wind, this requires adaptability and, to optimize the use of the wind, you have to accept slowing down.” By working on more direct routes and finely optimizing routings, shipowners are able to commit to a much more precise number of transit days and arrival times at ports than traditional transport vessels.

The challenge today remains to change mentalities and habits, which is what all these players in the decarbonization of maritime transport are working on today.