Old sailing ships are now being revamped into modern and eco-friendly vessels to take part in the marine cargo industry thanks to Costa-Rican start-up Sailcargo.
As reported by Interesting Engineering, the cargo start-up declared on May 17, 2022, that it had acquired a 113-year-old sailing ship to introduce environmentally friendly vessels to the markets.
Sailcargo intends to launch the ship in this year's final quarter.
Vega's Sailing History
The S/V Vega Gamleby, first built in Sweden in 1909, was a three-masted timber freight schooner with a square top sail that Sailcargo had acquired. Vega served as a ship for commercial freight for almost 60 years.
The sailing ship measures 137 feet in length and has a current gross tonnage of 140. 14 regular sails and six auxiliary studding-sails are hoisted, raising a total of 7,000 square feet of sail area.
The ship ceased carrying cargo in 1967. It deteriorated and eventually sunk in Stockholm Harbor.
The company said the ship was en route to the scrap yard when the Bergstöm family purchased her and began their time-consuming reconstruction. When a shipyard fire destroyed most of the original ship in 1993, the plans were changed from restoration to a new build.
They plan to launch an enterprise that will transport dry goods such as green coffee beans between Santa Marta, Colombia, and New Jersey in the United States, as per Interesting Engineering's report.
In fact, Canadian coffee company Café William has secured all northern freight voyages for the transportation of their coffee beans.
Another Eco-Friendly Ship: Ceiba
Furthermore, Sailcargo is still constructing the Ceiba, a ship that combines sustainable and conventional construction methods. The design asks for a three-masted sailing ship with a nine TEU or 250 tons of cargo capacity.
In addition to the 6,300 square feet of sail area, the design incorporates rechargeable batteries and two propellers acting as underwater turbines to generate electricity while under sail.
More interestingly, the company is experimenting with photovoltaic technology for the ship.
The cargo company plans to introduce Ceiba in 2023.
The maximum speed that Ceiba will be capable of reaching is 14 knots, which is six knots slower than the average cargo ship.
The Costa Rican shipyard AstilleroVerde is building the Ceiba. The eco-shipyard, or "green shipyard" as it is known in Spanish, also functions as a nonprofit organization that carries out educational programs for residents and an annual tree-planting campaign to lessen the company's carbon emissions.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
