French luxury goods by sailing ships to US

Several French companies are having sail cargo ships built to transport luxury goods to the US. Vela Sail for Goods expects to transport zero emissions from 2026 and Le Havre-based TransOceanic Wind Transport just started.

Vela will launch the trimaran Vela 1 for a regular service between the French ports of Bayonne, Honfleure and La Rochelle to New Jersey in the United States (US). The sailing vessel can carry 360 tonnes of cargo and will make the Atlantic crossing in 15 days. According to Vela CEO Pierre-Arnaud Vallon, arrangements have already been made to transport exclusive French wines. ‘The wines, spirits, cosmetics and leather goods that the trimaran will carry come from companies that can co-finance the transition to green propulsion,’ Vallon explained, noting that freight rates will be lower than those of air cargo, but higher than those of conventional sea transport.
The construction contract for the Vela 1 has been awarded to Australian shipbuilder Austal. The aluminium cargo trimaran will be 66.80 metres long and is based on a concept by Paris-based VPLP Design. The rigging will be supplied by MerConcept.

Anemos and Artemis

Le Havre-based French shipping company TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) just received its first sailing freighter Anemos and sister ship Artemis is under construction. The Anemos was built in Concarneau, Brittany, while the Artemis will come from Vietnam. TOWT plans to launch a total of eight sailing freighters. TOWT is also focusing on transporting exclusive goods such as rum, chocolate, coffee and champagne. The 80-metre-long Anemos has a cargo capacity of 1,000 tonnes.

Read this article in the Schuttevaer (Dutch, subscribers only).

Photo: Artist impression of the trimaran Vela.(VPLP).

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