Sails ahoy! Pioneers spearhead comeback for wind to clean up global shipping

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Seafaring pioneers are spearheading a comeback for wind power in the shipping industry, to try to make a dent in its huge carbon footprint. The international merchant fleet of more than 100,000 ships that transports most of the world’s trade is responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Now the return of ocean-going cargo ships that mainly use sails for propulsion could help solve shipping’s need for alternatives to fossil fuels. Captain of the Grain de Sail II cargo carrier Yann Jourdan says, “We always use the sails and only the sails. I mean, we don’t use the engine, even in really bad weather.” With its aluminum hull, two giant carbon-fiber masts, mechanized systems for hauling and adjusting the billowing sails, and its bridge bristling with high-tech navigation gear, Grain de Sail II is a supercharged modern update of the sailing clippers of yesterday. The speediest of its four crossings so far to New York took 17 days, and just 15 days on the return trip. “Last crossing, we did a maximum speed of 18 knots and an average speed of 11 knots,” says the captain. The cleanest of the new vessels spearheading wind’s embryonic revival are almost pure-sail vessels like Grain de Sail II. Half the length of a soccer field and able to carry 350 tons of goods in its hold, it uses its diesel engine only to maneuver in and out of port. “We want to not only reduce the carbon footprint, we want to kill it,” says Jacques Barreau, co-founder of the Grain de Sail firm with his twin brother, Olivier. They used profits from their chocolate-making and coffee-roasting business in western France to finance their first sail-powered cargo ship, the Grain de Sail I. He foresees a future with thousands of sailing cargo vessels. This article was provided by The Associated Press.