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Computer-Controlled Cargo Sailing Vessels Go Slow, Frugal
An anonymous reader writes "Big container ships are taking it very slow these days, cruising at 10 knots instead of their usual 26 knots, to save fuel. This is actually slower than sailing freighters traveled a hundred years ago. The 1902 German Preussen, the largest sailing ship ever built, traveled between Hamburg (Germany) and Iquique (Chile): the best average speed over a one way trip was 13.7 knots. Sailing boats need a large and costly crew, but they can also be controlled by computers. Automated sail handling was introduced already one century ago. In 2006 it was taken to the extreme by the Maltese Falcon, which can be operated by one man at the touch of a button. We have computer-controlled windmills, why not computer-controlled sailing cargo vessels?"
SkySail: using the a computer controlled parasail to improve fuel efficiency. Article http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/boating/4235055.html
The unreliability of sail is an issue, though. I think we'll see "hybrid" shipping becoming more common -- kite sailing when the wind is favorable (or perhaps kite-assisted), fossil fuels when it is not. This will reduce costs & environmental impact, a nice combo.
Here's a discussion we had previously on kite-assisted shipping.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
The bean-counters decided it was better to operate off a relatively fixed cost like fuel and have a dependable schedule. The whole story of the 20th century has been "Yeah, you could do this or that but it's just simpler and cheaper to use fossil fuels." Environmentalism won't drive alternative fuels, economics will. If it becomes cheaper to use sail, we'll go back to sail. The cost of fuel will only rise from this point, peak oil is here, so the economics we need for sail should be here now.
Go read Eric Newby's The Last Grain Race. It's a great book, but it's also relevant: it's the story of the author's trip round the world as a sailhand on the last commercial sailing fleet, in 1938.
His ship, the Moshulu , was one of a fleet of grain freighters that sailed from Europe to Australia, loaded grain there, and then sailed back again. They occupied a particular peculiar economic niche; being specialised sailing ships and technically quite simple, they had very fixed costs. As a result, it was feasible for them to stay in port in Australia for several months while small loads of grain trickled in from the farmers. Steamers were unable to do this, as they needed to be constantly trading to offset the fixed costs. Instead, they'd have to rely on warehousing, which would eat into profits.
It also helped that the Moshulu's owners didn't spend much on maintenance; some of Newby's descriptions are terrifying.
On Newby's trip, she made the voyage from Belfast, Ireland to Port Lincoln, Australia in 82 days, which is pretty good. She could do about 17 knots. Apparently she's now a restaurant ship in New York.
Read his book --- it's fantastic.