French Sail Cargo Company Unveils Plans for 200 TEU Sail Cargo Ship

French sail cargo company and chocolatier Grain de Sail unveiled its most ambitious plans to date for a significantly larger sail cargo ship. With the design that calls for a capacity of 200 TEU or 2,800 metric tons, the company reports it will achieve significant scale for its operations as part of a plan that envisions up to four ships by 2027.

The plan to construct Grain de Sail III envisions a 360-foot container ship with a larger capacity and the ability to make the Atlantic crossing in around 13 days. The vessel would operate entirely on wind power except for in port and channel maneuvers and aboard would have a wood pellet boiler to provide heat and hot water for the crew.

"With Grain de Sail III, we are displaying our ambitions and strengthening our leadership in the decarbonized maritime transport segment,” said Oliver Barreau, Co-Founder and President of Grain de Sail. “To make wind-powered transport accessible, we need to change scale, and that's what we're about to do with a pure sailing container ship."

 

 

The design calls for a vessel that would be 360 feet (110 meters) in length. It will have a sail area of just over 43,000 square feet (4,000 square meters). The vessel will have three masts and be fitted with large rigid sails. The rigging will be optimized for a pure cargo ship of its size.

Its maximum air draft of 205 feet (62.5 meters) would allow it to pass under bridges along major maritime routes (Verrazzano Bridge, Panama Canal, etc.). Its retractable daggerboards would ensure good upwind performance while limiting its draft at the dock.

At scale, the company highlights significant advantages for the sail cargo operation. They report it will represent a reduction of carbon footprint by over 90 percent, with emissions between 1 and 2 grams of CO2 per ton of cargo transported per kilometer traveled. They state it will be 10 to 20 times less than the current fleet.

The company is targeting the introduction of its largest vessel by 2027 after it launched its second vessel earlier this year. Built in Vietnam, Grain de Sail II has a capacity of 350 tons but is just 52 feet in length. It operates at 11 to 12 knots requiring 18 days for the Atlantic crossing.

 

Grain de Sail currently has two smaller vessels with the larger one starting service in January 2024 carrying 350 tons of cargo (GDS)

 

The operation started in 2020 with a small sailboat as a niche operation carrying just 50 tons. The original concept was to carry French goods to New York and then the vessel travels to the Caribbean to load organic cocoa and green coffee from Latin America which is imported to France. As the operation expands with larger ships, they are also marketing the service to transport raw materials for other shipping customers.

Grain de Sail is part of a growing niche to provide specialized cargo operations under sail. In August 2024, French carrier TOWT started operations with its largest sail cargo vessel. The Anemos has a capacity of up to 1,000 tonnes and provides a similar cargo service between France, New York, the Caribbean, and South America. More ambitious plans also foresee larger vessels transporting significant cargoes under sail.