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Clippers may return to cut transport costs
What a great initiative! Proof there is hope for the future if we simply use our imaginations...
Clippers were the mainstay of the merchant fleet in the mid-19th century, splendid three-mast sailing ships carrying goods across the seas until the advent of steam made them obsolete.
Now, 150 years after their heyday, clippers are set for a comeback as an eco-friendly and – in the age of soaring fuel prices – cost-effective way of transporting cargo.
Belfast-based B9 Shipping is working on a 21st-century version of the clipper, complete with three masts backed up with a Rolls Royce engine, fuelled by liquified natural gas.
According to the company the ships – which could be dubbed Cutty Sark meets the Toyota Prius – are commercially viable and construction could start within three years.
They are competitive with conventional oil-powered ships over a range of around 1,000 miles and there are hopes that they could even be used on longer transatlantic runs as well.
The maritime industry accounts for 3pc of global carbon emissions and is under mounting pressure to cut them.
About 90pc of the world’s shipping is powered by heavy oil known as bunker fuel, which is cheap but so dirty that it is claimed to threaten human health in coastal areas.
In November 2011 the UK’s Committee on Climate Change called on the industry to return to wind power as a greener way of carrying goods. Its interest was triggered by a five-year study carried out by the Technical University of Berlin which found ships using windpower achieved energy savings as high as 44pc.
The Committee backed the idea as part of a package aimed at cutting shipping’s emissions by 80pc by 2050.
Shipping could be included in a carbon trading scheme, which would effectively impose a levy on fuel.
The B9 prototype show three large rectangular sails which could be controlled from the bridge of the ship, meaning that crew levels could stay about the same as for conventional vessels.
B9, which is still seeking commercial backers, has said as many as 10,000 vessels could be replaced by its “green alternative”.
The design envisages 100-metre long ships with 60pc of the thrust coming from the three sails and the rest coming from the Rolls Royce engines which will be carbon neutral.
Tests have been carried out at Southampton University and, according to Diane Gilpin, B9’s project director, discussions have been held with the Met Office over potential routes.
“We hope the ships will be built in Britain,” she said. “We have been talking to Harland and Wolff in Belfast as well as Cammell Laird in Liverpool.”
Now, 150 years after their heyday, clippers are set for a comeback as an eco-friendly and – in the age of soaring fuel prices – cost-effective way of transporting cargo.
Belfast-based B9 Shipping is working on a 21st-century version of the clipper, complete with three masts backed up with a Rolls Royce engine, fuelled by liquified natural gas.
According to the company the ships – which could be dubbed Cutty Sark meets the Toyota Prius – are commercially viable and construction could start within three years.
They are competitive with conventional oil-powered ships over a range of around 1,000 miles and there are hopes that they could even be used on longer transatlantic runs as well.
The maritime industry accounts for 3pc of global carbon emissions and is under mounting pressure to cut them.
About 90pc of the world’s shipping is powered by heavy oil known as bunker fuel, which is cheap but so dirty that it is claimed to threaten human health in coastal areas.
In November 2011 the UK’s Committee on Climate Change called on the industry to return to wind power as a greener way of carrying goods. Its interest was triggered by a five-year study carried out by the Technical University of Berlin which found ships using windpower achieved energy savings as high as 44pc.
The Committee backed the idea as part of a package aimed at cutting shipping’s emissions by 80pc by 2050.
Shipping could be included in a carbon trading scheme, which would effectively impose a levy on fuel.
The B9 prototype show three large rectangular sails which could be controlled from the bridge of the ship, meaning that crew levels could stay about the same as for conventional vessels.
B9, which is still seeking commercial backers, has said as many as 10,000 vessels could be replaced by its “green alternative”.
The design envisages 100-metre long ships with 60pc of the thrust coming from the three sails and the rest coming from the Rolls Royce engines which will be carbon neutral.
Tests have been carried out at Southampton University and, according to Diane Gilpin, B9’s project director, discussions have been held with the Met Office over potential routes.
“We hope the ships will be built in Britain,” she said. “We have been talking to Harland and Wolff in Belfast as well as Cammell Laird in Liverpool.”
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