Great Moments in Progress

Headline: "Giant Kites That Drag Cargo Ships Across Oceans Go on Trial."

So we've re-invented sailing, but without the systematic rigging that would give you much control. 

6 comments:

E Hines said...

And to think they claim to be solving a problem that doesn't exist.

Eric Hines

David Foster said...

There have been several proposals for sail-assisted cargo vessels:

https://thetius.com/brief-guide-to-sail-assisted-cargo-ships/

There is some bunker fuel price at which sail becomes economically rational, I suspect it's considerably above the current level.

Probably a nice opportunity for sailing cargo vessels to transport high-value cargoes sold at a premium to people who are environmentally-obsessed and have extra money....the ships would have to be aesthetically appealing, though, which most of the currently-proposed designs are not.

J Melcher said...

From the linked article: the Ville de Bordeaux, a 154-meter-long ship ...

A typical container ship has been sized to be as big as can fit through the original dimensions of the Panama canal. Ship width -- for reasons we needn't elaborate -- tends to shape ship length, and vice versa. A "PanaMax" container ship is almost twice the length (and size) of the Bordeaux . Newer ships matching the width of the improved Panama Canal are about 20% longer still.

The traditional SAILING ship -- Clipper -- topped out in length at not quite 100 meters. So the new thing is bigger than the traditional thing but not as big as the contemporary thing.

Christopher B said...

What did socialists use before candles?

Electricity

douglas said...

Won't be long till we read about how the ship was disabled when a sudden downdraft blew the kite into the water ahead of the ship and the sail was subsequently snarled in the propellers...

Aggie said...

There are two designs that have been tested. The spinnaker-type kites and rotor-sails. If they're properly deployed and set up, under optimal conditions they can cut fuel consumption by about 10%. The problem is the capital outlay, the maintenance, and the constraints.

The equatorial trade winds are pretty solid, but, well you have to sail along the equatorial zones, probably adding time and distance to your journey. The westerly's are in the higher latitudes and more fickle. These design concepts have been trialed before, in the past when bunker prices got high enough to make the concepts competitive. The problem is, when the prices drop, you're stuck with a maintenance headache. And because ships are on an inspection cycle, the system has to be maintained, or decommissioned and removed. Every 5 years the ship must be drydocked and the full hull and machinery certification renewed. Still.....these are creative engineering ideas that work - but marginally.