Representing a significant step forward in the shipping industry’s net-zero carbon ambitions, French company Neoline Armateur’s first large sailing cargo ship is set to be constructed at the RMK MARINE shipyard in Istanbul.
The 136-metre-long ro-ro vessel, Neoliner, will be equipped with two 76-metre-high SolidSail folding carbon masts and retractable anti-drift plans, and will be largely propelled by its 3 000sqm sail area.
For port manoeuvres, the vessel will also be equipped with an auxiliary engine and MGO (Marine Gasoil) desulphurised generators (each exhaust will be equipped with SCR, Selective Catalytic Reduction, to suppress Nox emissions) as well as three transverse thrusters.
Its loading capacity will be 1200 linear metres (2.8m wide), or 265 TEUs, for a maximum weight of 5 300 tons of goods.
The vessel’s crew will comprise 13 people, although this number can be increased to 20 in order to embark trainees and technicians, and it will comfortably accommodate 12 passengers in six double cabins.
“Here we are, the first Neoliner will come to life,” said Jean Zanuttini, CEO of Neoline. “It is indeed the first achievement of a more-than 10-year project, which, in many respects, could initially seem utopian.
“But, in a context that daily reminds us that the fight against climate change is the challenge of this century, wind propulsion for commercial ships is becoming more and more of a pragmatic solution to an increasingly complex energy issue. Wind is certainly intermittent, but it is more predictable than the prices and availability of many other energies,” he said.
“Through the construction and commissioning of this first Neoliner, our foremost objective is to demonstrate under real operational conditions the potential of main propulsion by wind for the Merchant Navy. Our second objective is to repeat this success as quickly as possible by encouraging the creation of an entire fleet powered by the force of wind as a main propeller.”
The budget for the development was more than €60 million, and the financing of the first vessel was achieved with the help of public and private partners.
French shipping giant CMA CGM was among these.
“The CMA CGM Group, which aims to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050, has been fully involved for many years in developing projects and prototypes to accelerate the decarbonisation of the maritime sector,” said Emilie Espanet, director of the CMA CGM Energy Fund.
“Given the importance of the challenges, we are convinced of the need to explore all options. Several technologies will have to coexist to build the decarbonised propulsion solutions of tomorrow.
“This is why the CMA CGM Group, thanks to its €1.5 billion Fund for Energies, wanted to become a partner of NEOLINE, whose ro-ro sailing transport project seems to us to be extremely promising.”
Adnan Nefesoğlu, Président Directeur Général de RMK Marine, commented: “The International Maritime Organization has set targets to reduce carbon emissions of all ships by 40% by 2030, by 70% by 2050, and ultimately to become carbon zero. In accordance with these goals, we use environmentally friendly and carbon footprint-reducing technologies in the projects we realise.”
