New sailing freighter on maiden voyage

[Capn_Enigma]

The Germany based company SkySails installs the "Beluga Skysails 3" with a 160 square meter kite system to help save fuel.

Read more here and here.

[Coastie04]

I've been watching this off and on for the past year or so now and I'm glad the first ship has finally been launched. It's definitely a neat technology, as wind is definitely in abundance and completely renewable.

There were a few experiments with wind power in the past couple of decades, but the rigs were either too expensive to maintain, or compromised ship integrity, or had to go along with expensive ship modifications. Primarily, since the gear wasn't in commercial production, it was just too expensive. However, this kite idea minimizes the gear altogether, and appears to attach to a convenient hard point in most ships, the bow. If it can handle the stress of the anchor chain, it can handle the kite. And, it's usually free of cargo in almost every type of boat. I sure wish I had thought of it instead...

Coastie

[Coastie04]

OK, I just watched the video on their main site (the second link), and it's even better than I thought at first. And, they point out many benefits to this system as opposed to the traditional mast-rigged sails. The graphic representations, combined with the actual photos of the sail in action (and being set/doused) makes it worth while. I figure since I don't own a commercial cargo, fishing, or passanger vessel, it doesn't seem quite like a long commercial. I'd definitely recommend watching the video, if nothing else, for the skysail in action and a glimpse of future wind powered shipping.

Coastie