The Nantes-based company's 136 m long wind-powered merchant ship will feature two Solid Sail folding rigging systems.

The set-up will include two 76 m tall masts, each equipped with the Solid Sail sail technology of 1,100 m2 and a flexible jib of 400 m2, with a total sail area of 3,000 m2. The expected lifetime of the sail is 25 years.

"Obtained calculations show that the Solid Sail rig, with its rigid sails, will provide the equivalent or even better performance than the 4,200 m2 of flexible sails initially planned for the duplex rig, thanks to the thinness and vertical elongation of the structure, as well as the reduction of the masking effect of the sails," NEOLINE underlined in a press release.

According to the company, the cargo ship will save 80-90% of fuel compared to a conventional ship of the same size. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, while the vessel's service entry is 2024-2025.

A crowdfunding campaign was launched in January 2022 to support the project and will remain active until 12 June 2022 on the WiSEED platform. One million euros is sought for this crowdfunding collection, part of the fundraising of €3.3m from financial investors. Some €700k have already been raised.

Photo: NEOLINE