Zero-emissions freight forwarding – the old-fashioned way
It’s as if I’m chatting with a trader on a European quay more than a century ago when I ask Jorne Langelaan, founder and CEO of Dutch shipping startup EcoClipper, how his ship’s maiden voyage is going.
“In the beginning the winds were very favourable,” he says of the progress made by the 1912-built De Tukker, which has recently been on a regular sailing schedule and has sailed to ports all over Europe. Chocolate, olive oil and wine are among the first loads.
On the way from the Netherlands to Portugal, the crew of De Tukker, like many thousands of sailors in centuries gone by, had to sail close to the Atlantic wind to sail south along the west coast of France.
“Otherwise,” says Langelaan, “you will be easily pulled into the Bay of Biscay with the current there and the prevailing winds.” EcoClipper, with five shore-based employees and five crew members, has so far raised about €1 million in funding, half of which has come from loans.
Decarbonization ahoy
Does the future of shipping look confusingly similar to the past? Maybe. The industry certainly faces a huge challenge to go green. worldwide, shipping is responsible for 3% of greenhouse gas emissions – but that’s more than it sounds, because it’s very difficult to decarbonize shipping, as giant commercial ships have long depended on highly polluting bunker fuel.
Until 90% of the goods are transported by ship and demand is rising, so the potential climate impact of shipping will only increase in the future unless cleaner fuels or zero-emission technologies emerge as suitable alternatives.
One obstacle is scale. The Tukker can carry a maximum load of around 80 tons – completely dwarfed by the 200,000 tons or more that the largest container ships can move. But Langelaan says he has gained interest from companies that want to reduce their carbon footprint and use emission-free transport. For example, multiple construction companies have been reaching out lately, he notes, as some are under pressure to cut emissions.
Langelaan points out that De Tukker is not only an emission-free ship, but also extremely quiet, so that there is practically no risk of noise pollution, which is known to negatively affect marine life. The ship actually has an engine, but her crew barely uses it. She sails at about half the speed typically achieved by modern large commercial vessels.
Langelaan and his colleagues hope to deploy a whole fleet of newly built sailing ships in the coming years, based on a design inspired by classic Dutch freighters. Clipper ships – including the famous Cutty Sark – have been refined over many years of maritime development, Langelaan emphasises.
“We don’t really have the resources to do a lot of research and development, so we just took what works and use it,” he explains, referring to the EcoClipper prototype500 ship conceptwhich would have a payload of 500 tons.
Langelaan already has a Dutch shipyard in mind that he says could build the first of these new ships, but adds that the project requires investment. When it comes, he’s considering launching a newly built clipper-style vessel as early as 2026.
Sails are back
For Joe Banks, lecturer in marine science and marine engineering at the University of Southampton, EcoClipper’s approach is certainly a passionate one. “Those historic ships were beautiful and there’s a nostalgia, a romance,” he says.
However, it is the gigantic existing fleet of huge commercial ships that deserves the most attention, he argues. Shipping companies can reduce their climate impact by add miniature sails or kites to their ships, allowing them to use the wind. Automation can also help make them as efficient as possible, he adds.
“My instinct would be that we will have a bigger impact by looking at retrofitting existing vessels with modern automated systems,” says Banks.
He and his colleagues at the University of Southampton are going to start a project to test the effect adding a 20 meter high retractable sail to a freighter called the Pacific Grebe, which has been used for many years to transport nuclear waste.
However, EcoClipper could still play an important role in highlighting the benefits of shipping cargo under sail, Banks argues: “There is […] a value there to raise awareness and show the benefits of doing so.
Langelaan makes another point: one way to reduce emissions is to simply ship less and reduce humanity’s impact on the planet in general. “As a ship owner, I really shouldn’t be saying this,” he jokes.
For the time being, De Tukker has the wind in its sails and a busy schedule. Langelaan lists the various places she will be calling in over the coming weeks, including the UK, France and back to the Netherlands. From tall ship festivals to hoisting building materials.
“Then it starts again,” he says, again with the air of a hardened old sailor. “The ship will sail constantly.”
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