Sail-powered cargo ship gets ABC boost

The 136-m Neoliner, designed by naval architecture and marine engineering company Mauric and equipped with the Solidsail rig developed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, will be built by the shipyard RMK Marine. ABC will supply the auxiliary drive developing 3184 kWm at 900 rpm. The project is headed by French start-up Neoline Armateur. The ship is planned to be delivered in 2025 and will have a total of 3000 m2 sail area on two 76-m high folding carbon masts. (Image: ABC)

A new-age sailing cargo ship being developed in France will incorporate Anglo Belgian Corp. (ABC) engines for its auxiliary drive.

The 136-m Neoliner, designed by naval architecture and marine engineering company Mauric and equipped with the Solidsail rig developed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, will be built by the shipyard RMK Marine. ABC will supply the auxiliary drive developing 3184 kWm at 900 rpm. The project is headed by French start-up Neoline Armateur.

The ship is planned to be delivered in 2025 and will have a total of 3000 m2 sail area on two 76-m high folding carbon masts, a crew of 20, accommodation areas with 12 passenger capacity and life support systems, as well as 6300 ton cargo carrying capacity. The Neoline Armateur said sizing of the pilot ships avoids competition from the main lines and the ship will focus on a niche market, offering new capacities in terms of type of freight (rolling and non-standard freight) and destination.

“We are extremely proud to have been selected to provide auxiliary propulsion for this unique vessel,” said Bernardo Rodriguez, Area Sales Manager at ABC.

The Neoliner plans to sale from St-Nazaire in France to the American East Coast (Halifax/Baltimore), with two crossings in St-Pierre and Miquelon. The objective is to serve this line with two ships in order to allow two departures per month.

The operational conditions on this route were simulated with over five years of weather history, using a routing study carried out with D-ICE Engineering. The results made it possible to validate the projected fuel savings at the same time as confirming the capacity to keep the delivery times with a commercial speed of 11 knots.

Neolin Armatuer said sailing propulsion, enhanced by 21st century technologies, is an efficient and immediately available response to the need to adapt maritime transport to a profoundly changing context. The ship’s SolidSail folding carbon masts and retractable anti-drift plans, will serve as the main propulsion, but for port maneuvers and punctuality of service, the vessel will incorporate an auxiliary engine and MGO (Marine Gasoil) desulfurized generators (each exhaust will be equipped with SCR, Selective Catalytic Reduction, to suppress Nox emissions) as well as the transverse thrusters.

The company said that using the sails, combined with a reduction in operating speed (a general trend in the world of shipping) at 11 knots, allows to reduce the energy needed by half.

As for the use of mechanical propulsion and complementary conventional energies to secure commercial speed, ensure port maneuvers and produce electricity on board, the company plans to replace them with renewable energies in the long term.

By 2030, the company said it plans to go even further by offering a wider range of maritime transport solutions that will be able to meet as many needs as possible.