Wind-Powered Ro-Ro Neoliner Origin Proves 70% Fuel Reduction in First Year
The wind-powered ro-ro Neoliner Origin has completed its first full year of commercial service between Europe and North America, and its owner says it cut fuel use by a remarkable 70 percent in 2026. That number approaches but does not quite reach the 80 percent savings target the vessel was expected to deliver when it entered service in October 2025, and the owner said that it expects to achieve better performance next year.
French shipowner Neoline said the 136-meter (446-foot) ship's first year was marked by technical problems, the difficulties of commissioning a first-of-its-kind vessel and a disrupted transatlantic trade environment.
Even so, the company says Neoliner Origin has shown that wind-powered cargo shipping can work at an industrial scale. Measured against the GLEC (Global Logistics Emissions Council) fleet reference, the ship saved 3,502 tonnes of fuel over the year. That is an average reduction of 66 percent since it entered service, and 70 percent for 2026 alone. Neoline says the fuel saved equals 11,228 tonnes of CO2 avoided. Neoline also compared the ship with a simulated conventional vessel of the same size without sails, running the same 2026 routes at 15 knots. Against that benchmark, the savings ranged from 62 to 67 percent.
Neoliner Origin at Port of Baltimore, 2026 (Port of Baltimore)
Neoliner Origin uses two SolidSail rigs as its main source of propulsion. It sails on a transatlantic service from Montoir-de-Bretagne, near Saint-Nazaire, with calls at Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Baltimore and Halifax. In its first year, the ship covered more than 62,000 nautical miles and completed nine commercial round trips. It carried 1,845 cargo units, about 12,063 tonnes and 55,889 cubic meters of cargo, including vehicles, containers, out-of-gauge cargo, industrial machinery and refrigerated goods.
Built by RMK Marine in Turkey, the vessel also carried more than 170 passengers during the year. It has six double cabins and can take up to 12 passengers.
Neoline said problems with the sail system kept the ship from reaching the 80 percent target. Neoliner Origin has shown it can regularly sail at more than 15 knots on wind alone, and it hit a peak of 16.6 knots in June with its engine stopped. But faults in the rig cut the time the sails could be used, especially with all of them set.
The company is working with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, which designed the SolidSail rig, to fix the problems so the ship can rely on its sails far more in 2027. Its new target is a fuel reduction of at least 78 percent against the GLEC reference, a standardized index for carbon emissions from freight transport. The ship is due for a maintenance period in February 2027 that should bring the rig back to full use.
“This first year of operations confirms the potential of wind propulsion to significantly reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in maritime transport,” said Jean Zanuttini, Neoline's chairman and CEO. He added that as a prototype, the ship had taught the company valuable lessons that will be critical to improving its performance.
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“We are confident in our ability to approach, and potentially exceed, 80 percent fuel savings as early as 2027,” he said.
Neoline was founded in 2015 to develop low-carbon shipping with wind as the main source of propulsion. Since Neoliner Origin entered service, the company has signed commercial partnerships with CMA CGM and CEVA, and in September it added a call at Zeebrugge.
