Windassist

Sailcargo, sailtraining and wind-assisted ship propulsion

Windassist

Sailcargo, sailtraining and wind-assisted ship propulsion

News

Luxury, large and under sail

In an earlier post, we could report that the Orient Express Corinthian was launched. Now the largest sailing passenger ship is making its first trial run.

Despite last weekend’s rather bad weather on the Atlantic coast, the first of the two cruise ship sailing yachts built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique for Orient Express left Saint-Nazaire as planned. The OE Corinthian is sailing to the Mediterranean for its first season.

Travel agents and high net worth guests

The OE Corinthian was delivered on 24 April and officially commissioned five days later. On Saturday 2 May, at the end of the afternoon, the ship departed from the Joubert Lock. The maiden voyage will be to the Mediterranean, with a first stop in Lisbon, Portugal where the ship is expected on Wednesday 6 May and then on to Marseille. At the moment, the ship is receiving international travel agents, who come to explore the ship before recommending it to their wealthy clients. Together with them, the crew will work in before the ship sails to Cannes, where the OE Corinthian will be present for the duration of the festival, from 12 to 23 May. The first routes open to individual passengers will begin in the Mediterranean in early June. The ship will also sail to the Adriatic in late summer and depart for the Antilles in October.

LNG and wind

The OE Corinthian is the largest sailing ship in the world and the first cruise ship registered in the Registre International Français (RIF), with Saint-Tropez as its home port. The ship is 220 metres long, 25 metres wide and has a tonnage of 26,600 tonnes. Main propulsion is provided by dual-fuel engines running on diesel or liquefied natural gas (LNG), complemented by a sail support system consisting of three masts that can set up to 4,500 m² of sail area. This vessel, designed as a luxury floating hotel, will be joined by its twin brother, the OE Olympian, in April 2027. The latter was recently launched by Chantiers de l’Atlantique.

Source text and image: Chantiers Atlantique and Orient Express

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