Return to newsletter

The German company Sky Sails GmbH is now retro-fitting enormous paraglider-like towing kites onto cargo ships in order to both increase their speed and reduce their fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The ‘Sky Sail’ kite, initially 160 square metres in area and reducing fuel consumption by up to 20%, can be unfurled to 320 square metres, reducing consumption by up to 30%. It flies at heights between 330 and 1,600 feet, where the winds are stronger and more dependable. The ships follow the trading routes of the sailing ships of former times.

The first kite-powered voyage was carried out by the MS Beluga Sky Sails. She left Brehmen in Germany for Venezuela in South America in December 2007, returning via North America and Norway. On the journey, apparently, fuel costs were cut by around $1,500 a day and carbon emissions were cut by 35%. If a Sky Sail kite were fitted to all of the 40,000 ships considered suitable it would reduce annual global shipping emissions by 146 million tonnes (about 0.6% of global emissions from all sources).