Cargo sets sail

Black Pearl took on the challenge of developing the DynaRig concept from its first iteration aboard Maltese Falcon. The 106.7-metre, high-tech sailing vessel is capable of achieving 20knots under sail, and of crossing the Atlantic Ocean without expending a single drop of fuel.

“The innovations applied on board Black Pearl allow us to design a truly sustainable sail assisted cargo ship,” said Thys Nikkel, CEO of Dykstra Naval Architects.

This comes about as the result of an ongoing directive from the principals of the Black Pearl project to create ocean-traversing cargo liners that will only produce a fraction of the greenhouse gas pollutants and use a fraction of the fuel consumed by the current cargo fleet.

Captain Chris Gartner said, “Over 20 years ago, I was introduced to the concept of the DynaRig and I was lucky enough to be deeply involved in its first use on board S/Y Maltese Falcon. Having logged over 100,000 nautical miles with the DynaRig, I can say that on board S/Y Black Pearl, we’ve really taken the DynaRig to the next level. Eco innovation is the foundation of S/YBlack Pearl and in my view it will play an important role in the future of the superyacht industry.”

“We have developed a revolutionary solar product that is extra thin and very flexible; all the benefits of solar panels without the drawbacks! This can be applied to the creation of a new eco cargo ship,” said Alain Janet, President of Solar Cloth Systems.

Currently, the shipping industry is a significant contributor to the global climate change crisis, responsible for three and a half to four percent of all climate change emissions – carbon dioxide in particular. However, very little effort has been made to address the problem. The proposed eco cargo liners are designed to help alleviate the environmental problems derived from the current cargo ships.

“Exploring, understanding and informing others about the ocean, all help to preserve its biodiversity for the benefit of future generations,” said Yvan Griboval, designer of the OceanoScientific Programme, a platform designed to enable the international scientific community and theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to enrich their knowledge about the causes and consequences of climate change, through the repeated collection of quality data oceanographic and atmospheric data on sea routes subject to little or no scientific exploration, aboard all kinds of vessels.

The panel discussion summarised plans for the proposed new world cargo ships and outlined details of the various advanced systems, which they believe will reduce the environmental impact of vessels worldwide.