World’s longest cargo sail ship launches

The project received support from France’s public investment bank (BPI) and the French shipping company CMACGM. The shipyard will soon begin work on a second similar ship.

Designed by French company Neoline and built by Turkish shipyard RMK Marine, the ship can carry 5,300 tonnes of freight over long distances thanks to its two masts and 3,000 square metres of sails.

Jean Zanuttini, President of Nantes-based Neoline, said: “Thanks to the wind, and by reducing speed from 15 knots (about 30 kilometres or 18 miles an hour) to 11 knots, we can cut fuel consumption and therefore emissions by a factor of five compared with a conventional ship.”

With about 90 per cent of world trade going by sea, the maritime transport sector is responsible for about three per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization.

The ship will leave Turkey during the summer of 2025 for the French Atlantic port of Saint-Nazaire and then begin its first rotation toward North America, serving the French island of Saint Pierre et Miquelon, the US port of Baltimore and Halifax in Canada.

Equipped with a loading ramp, the Neoliner can load parcels of various sizes and packaging within three loading areas (a main garage of 1150m², a steerage of 368m², a lower garage of 850m²) fully protected and secured from rough weather conditions.

Its transport capacities are optimised to load both light freight and oversized parcels, up to 9.8m high and 200 tons, without the need for lifting.

In terms of volume, the Neoliner’s carrying capacity is:

Ro-ro: 1500 linear meters or 500 cars

Containers : 265 TEUs Conventional : 5000 t N

Main deck 2236 m²: Length: 121 m Width: 21.2 m Max. height: 9.8 m

Lower garage 1200m²: Length: 81.6 m Width: 14.6 m Height: 5.3 m