Green Daily

The Age of Sail has officially returned, although not in any shape that Columbus would have recognized. Back in December we told you about the ship MV Beluga Skysails which was preparing to literally set sail on its maiden sail-assisted voyage. Now the cargo ship has completed its first sail-assisted trip from Germany to Venezuela, the US and Norway, with SkySails boosters pronouncing the experiment a success.

The sail - also called a kite - isn't the principal power behind the vessel; but rather functions as an assist to the standard engines. Used intermittently throughout the journey for different lengths of time and under different weather conditions, it's estimated that under optimal circumstances the sail reduced the engine load by as much as 20%. Apart from the obvious dollar and cents advantage in fuel savings, there's a commensurate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when the sail is in use.

It's estimated that once best uses of the towing kites are fully understood and larger versions in use, around $2000 a day could be saved in fuel costs. In an interesting twist, 20% of the savings are being paid directly to the crew as incentives, presumably in recognition of their need to reacquire ancient sailor's skills like shouting "Arggh, bejabber the mizzen-mast, me hearties!"

With the 11,000 nautical mile trip deemed a success, plans are already underway for a sail twice as large which should provide twice as much pull. Two newer, larger vessels are also in production, and are being specifically built to incorporate the Sky Sails technology.