The Solid Sail solution from Chantiers de l’Atlantique has been chosen to power NEOLINE’s new vessel.
Nantes-based, low-carbon shipping company NEOLINE will power its 136-metre ship, Neoliner, with the sail technology, which will save 80-90% of fuel compared to a conventional ship of the same size.
”The expertise of our technical partners and local players, combined with Chantiers de l’Atlantique’s Research and Development, give the project a synergy of skills, which made this choice possible,” said Jean Zanuttini, president of NEOLINE.
”The continuous work on the general design of the ship over the last few months by Mauric, Neoliner’s architect, has enabled the architecture to be adapted to this new rig, in order to ensure its integration on board.”
Crowdfunded
Following technical studies carried out by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Neopolia, Mauric and D-Ice, the ship’s rigging will consist of two Solid Sail folding rigging systems, including two masts of 76 m in height, each equipped with the sail technology of 1,100 m² and a flexible jib of 400 m², with a total sail area of 3,000 m².
Obtained calculations show that the Solid Sail rig will provide the equivalent or even better performance than the 4,200 m² of flexible sails initially planned for the duplex rig, thanks to the thinness and vertical elongation of the structure, as well as the reduction of the masking effect of the sails.
The expected lifetime of the sail is 25 years, which will reduce maintenance costs compared to soft sails.
A crowdfunding campaign was launched in January 2022 to support the project and will remain active until 12 June 2022 on the WiSEED platform.
In all €1million is sought for the crowdfunder, which forms part of the fundraising of €3.3million from financial investors.
The beginning of construction of Neoliner has been postponed to autumn 2022. This is due to the interruption of international trade, with the raw materials market being impacted by the geopolitical situation and the war in Ukraine since the beginning of March, and before that, the global pandemic.
For strategic reasons, the Sogestran group has decided to withdraw from NEOLINE’s shareholding and has provided transitional financial support for the integration of a new reference partner. NEOLINE has approached another shipowner with whom discussions are in progress.
The cargo ship is scheduled to enter into service in 2024-2025.
