The Future of Shipping Is … Sails?

Cargo vessels are turning to an ancient innovation—wind—to cut future greenhouse gases

- K. Oanh Ha

Around 3500 B.C., Egyptian mariners suspended woven reeds on ships to capture wind to propel boats along the Nile River, inventing the first sailboats and enabling maritime commerce. Now modern-day shippers are adapting this ancient technology in a bid to cut the very 21st century challenge of greenhouse gas emissions.

Some of the biggest names in the maritime trade are investing in retrofitting or building newly designed vessels that harness wind energy to meet pollution-busting goals and emissions standards. From giant kites that pull cargo ships to inflatable sails to spinning rotors that create lift, the move toward wind-powered commercial vessels will generate a doubling of such ships on the water by 2023. Although starting from a low base, global shipping giants including Cargill, Maersk Tankers, and Mitsui are tacking into the wind to cut emissions, betting on the revived technology to help meet the industry goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the global fleet by 50% by 2050, from 2008 levels.

“The pressure to move and act now is being felt,” says Christopher Palsson, managing director of Maritime Insight, an industry consulting company. “After some years of slow activity, there’s now a lot of interest in wind, and we are seeing traction and movement. Still, it will take time.”

By the end of this year, 25 commercial vessels— including seven delivered in 2022—will make use of wind-powered innovations, according to trade group International Windship Association. By the end of 2023, that number will almost double, to 49.