Grain de Sail to build third sailing cargo ship

French company Grain de Sail has decided to construct its third cargo sailboat, the Grain de Sail III, to meet the needs of wind-powered maritime transport.

As informed, this pure sailing vessel will be a 109-meter containership designed to carry about 200 TEUs and a maximum cargo capacity of 3,000 metric tons. The firm predicts that the ship will achieve a decarbonization rate of over 90%, thanks to three masts equipped with 4,000 square meters of sails.

With a maximum air draft of 62.5 meters, this vessel will be able to navigate under bridges along different maritime routes, including the Verrazzano Bridge and the Panama Canal. Its retractable daggerboards are expected to enhance upwind performance while minimizing draft at the dock, according to Grain de Sail.

The design aims for a near-passive vessel featuring strong insulation. Furthermore, the advanced hydrogenation technologies, already established for cargo sailing ships by Grain de Sail, will provide autonomous and decarbonized onboard energy production.

With Grain de Sail III, registered under the French International Register (RIF), the company seeks to offer concrete solutions based on its assessment of the needs and limitations of wind propulsion.

“With Grain de Sail III, we are displaying our ambitions and strengthening our leadership in the decarbonized maritime transport segment. 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,” said Oliver Barreau, Co-Founder and President of Grain de Sail.

To remind, Grain de Sail ordered its second cargo sailboat in February 2022. The signing of the contract took place aboard Grain de Sail I — the company’s first sailboat.

Meanwhile, the French firm launched a carbon-free maritime logistics service to respond to the needs of the future maritime transport.