The French shipping company Windcoop from Lorient has placed a binding order for the world’s first sail-powered container ship.
The 91.3 m long ship with three 350 m² rigid wings designed by CWS will be built by RMK Marine. This is the Turkish shipyard that recently completed the “Neoliner Origin”.
The “Windcoop” is due to be launched in May 2027 and will cost a total of €28.5 million. Once delivered, the cargo ship will provide a direct link between France and Madagascar and connect Marseille with the ports of Tamatave, Diego Suarez and Majunga, according to reports. There is space on board for 210 TEU, including 40 reefer connections.
Windcoop is organized as a cooperative and has raised €6.8 million over the past two years, provided by 1,600 private investors and a dozen future customers. With the help of this financing model, it was possible to secure all the equity required to build the ship. Apart from the technological innovation, this is the first freighter of this size to be financed cooperatively.
Asymmetrical arrangement of the sails and on-board crane
For around ten years, the shipping industry has been developing the first sailing cargo ships, which are mainly used to transport palletized goods or packages on trailers (RoRo). Windcoop is now going one step further and is the first shipping company to equip a container ship with sails.
In doing so, it is taking on a major technical and logistical challenge: integrating a sail system while at the same time ensuring efficient container handling. To achieve this, Windcoop has chosen an innovative design with an asymmetrical arrangement of sails and an on-board crane opposite.
Shipping company is organized as a cooperative
Founded in 2022 and based in Lorient, Windcoop was born from the desire of the companies Zephyr & Borée, Enercoop and Arcadie to create a shipping company organized as a cooperative. The Société Coopérative d’Intérêt Collectif (SCIC) is a non-profit cooperative under French law and today has more than 1,600 members, including private individuals, shippers, companies, local authorities and investors.
The financing of €28.5 million was structured by Crédit Maritime Grand Ouest – Banque Populaire with a guarantee from Bpifrance. It includes €6.8 million from private investors, shippers (Arcadie, Valrhona, Prova, Lobodis, Ethicable, Cafés Richard, Demad and Arawak) and institutional investors (La Nef, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, SIDI, Mer Invest, Inddigo and Bretagne Capital Solidaire).
Ship data:
Length: 91.3 m
Width: 17.8 m
Draft: 4.8 m
Crew: 10 to 12
Capacity: 2,500 t (210 TEU), 40 reefer connections
Sail area: 1,065 m²
Average speed: 9 knots
Targeted CO₂ savings: 60%
