Wind Powered Cargo Sailing Ships

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Wind powered ships? I "vaguely" 😀 recall something like that having been done more than a Century ago.

I certainly support efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Climate change is a fact whether some choose to believe it or not. In my opinion as sometime trained in the sciences. (I also recognize that there are those of my colleagues so trained who do not agree with my thinking.) Using wind, the Sun for power: I'm for it. Practical at this time? No.

This "idea" reminds me of the "promise" of nuclear energy in propelling ships. How did that work out?

LNG now seems to be the fuel of the future for shipping. The first cruise ship to sail fueled by LNG is waiting for cruising to begin. But, how will that turn out?

What happens if a collision occurs with a ship being operated with LNG and another ship when the tanks containing LNG are breached?
 
A major problem with LNG is lack of suitable supply at many ports. The company my brother in law worked for just had 2 containerships built (Philly Shipyard) , and they are capable of using LNG. LNG fueling for large is not available in the ports they serve. They made a commitment to the future, but it is a ways off.
 
Different market, the Matson ships are designed to serve a very well defined set of routes, and while not huge by world standards, are certainly not small. They are the largest built to date in the US, which is significant, they are used in Jones Act compliant service...
 
Matson is the largest US container shipping company in terms of TEU capacity, but it only ranks 22nd in the world.
Not sure, but I think the world's largest, the Maersk Line, may even own a US subsidiary company that is larger then Matson....
 
Matson is in a very specialized market, they are primarily West Coast to Hawaii, and West Coast to Alaska, Jones Act and some Guam. They are not an all over the world carrier and their equipment is tailored to the services they run. their market share for the services they run is pretty high.
 
Wind powered ships? I "vaguely" 😀 recall something like that having been done more than a Century ago.

Railroad trains? That's so 19th century! And yet they're still rolling along. There are even sailing cruise ships in service. A niche market, I'll admit, but not everyone or everything needs to travel at the speed of sound.


This "idea" reminds me of the "promise" of nuclear energy in propelling ships. How did that work out?

Um, aren't most of the aircraft carriers and submarines in the US Navy powered by nuclear?
 
Not so sure this is a good idea, except maybe to the bean counters at the shipping companies. If world trade is conducted using an ever decreasing number of ever-larger ships, then one shipwreck could seriously disrupt world trade. In addition, wouldn't these new large super-duper containerships have trouble serving many ports, and thus require the taxpayers in all of these ports to spend lots of public money to upgrade their docks, dredge deeper channels and so forth. Perhaps the shipping companies should be required to do this. Of course, if that were the case, perhaps these huge ships wouldn't make as much economic sense to the shipping company.
 
You can use any means of fuel or propulsion when money is no object. We also build some ships with gas turbines so they can achieve certain speeds. That works because we pay the bill. Most countries build conventional subs and carriers, only a few of the "big guys" run nukes
 
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