French WASP project Hisseo terminated

Although there is plenty of investment in sail cargo in France, not every initiative there is making it. French shipping company Hisseo is ending its sailing cargo project in the Mediterranean for various reasons.

Hisseo was founded in 2023 with the aim of facilitating emission-free sail cargo shipping in the Mediterranean. While the French sail cargo sector has so far mainly focused on the Atlantic, the Mediterranean accounts for 15-25% of global shipping traffic.

The maritime sector here generates annual gross value added of around €27 billion, employs some 550,000 people and is expected to grow significantly. This growth means more routes, more traffic and larger ships, with increasing pressure on the environment due to emissions and underwater noise, among other things.

Vulnerable biodiversity

At the same time, the Mediterranean has exceptionally rich biodiversity and is considered one of the regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Hisseo therefore deliberately focused on this region and saw wind propulsion as an appropriate solution. The company developed an efficient sail transport model to significantly reduce emissions both above and below water. This model included a 40-metre-long sailing ship, optimised for the Mediterranean and similar to Grain de Sail ships. Combined with efficient weather routing and other energy-saving measures, they expected to achieve energy savings of up to 90%.

No level playing field

Hisseo cites the excessively high cost of sail cargo, or perhaps more accurately, the excessively low cost of conventional sea transport, which moreover has to compete with road transport in this region, as the main reason for halting the project. Environmental impact is not sufficiently factored into the price of conventional transport models, leading to an unfair market position. Hisseo argues for a fairer distribution of actual costs, with which:

• The quantity of goods transported can be better regulated through pricing;
• Encourage the development of sustainable alternatives through the market;
• Local production remains more attractive compared to distant imports.

Although steps are being taken at both European and global levels towards higher maritime sustainability standards, progress is slow. Higher costs generally do not fit within the shipping industry’s traditional business model.

Preserving knowledge

Nevertheless, Hisseo stresses that sailing cargo, in the Mediterranean and beyond, remains a valuable solution. To support further development, Hisseo is making its operational sail transport model and experience available to the French Wind Ship Association and other stakeholders so that other pioneers can build on it and the knowledge gained is preserved.

Sources: wwfmmi and geomar, with thanks to Pablo Albers.
Image: wwfmmi and Hisseo.

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