Atlantis set sail

Whilst we previously reported that NewTowt had launched its third vessel, the Atlantis, the ship is now en route to South America.

The French transport company NewTowt (formerly TOWT) has recently put a new sailing cargo ship into service. The French shipbuilder Piriou completed the vessel, despite TOWT’s earlier financial concerns. Like its sister ships, the Anemos and the Artemis, the Atlantis will be used to transport various cargoes, including tea, coffee and wine, across the Atlantic Ocean.

Construction in Vietnam

The vessel was built at Piriou’s yard in Da Nang, Vietnam, and set sail on 7 August; it is now en route to Brazil, following a brief stopover on the island of Réunion. The vessel will then call at Le Havre. The christening is scheduled for November. The Atlantis is 81 metres long, 15 metres wide, 63 metres high and has a cargo hold capable of carrying goods on pallets with a total weight of 1,100 tonnes. The ship joins the two other Phénix-class steel sailing cargo ships that have been operated by the shipping company since 2024, the Anemos and the Artemis.

Despite bankruptcy

Following the delivery of the first two vessels, a further six had been ordered from the Breton shipbuilder. However, TOWT (TransOceanic Wind Transport) filed for bankruptcy at the end of March, was wound up and subsequently taken over by Crédit Mutuel via its ‘Révolution environnementale et solidaire’ (RES) fund. Four of the six ships will be completed at Piriou (which, despite the difficulties at TOWT, had continued the construction of the first two ships) following an agreement with the Breton group, thereby easing the financial pressure. The fourth vessel, the Atlas, is expected to join the fleet in October. It was already fitted with its two large masts – supplied by the Lorient-based manufacturer Lorima – at the Ba Son shipyard in May.

AI-assisted routing

The sails will provide all the propulsion the ship requires, with a sail area of 2,200 square metres spread across two masts, whilst navigation is supported by an autonomous routing system utilising artificial intelligence and meteorological data. Using the sails alone, the ship can already reach a top speed of 10 knots.
The Atlantis is designed to spend up to 320 days a year at sea. Navigation will primarily rely on sail power, but the ship also features a hybrid propulsion mode with one or two turbocharged four-stroke diesel engines operating at different power levels.

The Atlas, the fourth sailing cargo ship in the same series, is currently in the final stage of construction at Piriou Vietnam.

Sources: NewTowt, Baird Maritime, France Infoand Mer en Marine (subscribers only) 

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