Hoisting the sail, a supply chain podcast

Ask an AI  agent "Is Cafe William sailing?": the answer is "Yes, Café William is actively using sailboats for transporting coffee as part of their commitment to sustainability. They partner with TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) to ship coffee beans using wind-powered cargo ships, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Their latest initiative includes transporting coffee from Colombia to Quebec aboard the largest modern sailing cargo ship."We are delighted to receive on the show this month Serge Picard, the owner of Café William, a Quebec-based coffee roaster known for its commitment to sustainability and fair trade practices. Join us on this fascinating interview and discover the innovative approaches to reduce the environmental impact of coffee production and transportation: investment in SailCargo, transporting  coffee on the sailboat Avontuur, partnership with TOWT, collaboration with the German manufacturer Neuhaus Neotec to design, manufacture and operate the first electric coffee roaster.Thank you Serge for your time on the show, the hope and inspiration you provide!

On the show this month, we are delighted to receive Jean Zanuttini, president of Neoline. End of January, Neoline launched in Turkey an innovative and eco-friendly vessel, the Neoliner Origin. This 136-meter wind-powered ro-ro cargo ship is designed to transport rolling and oversized freight across the Atlantic. The Neoliner Origin appears to be a significant step forward in the decarbonization of the maritime industry. By utilizing wind as its primary propulsion energy, the Neoliner Origin aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% compared to conventional ships of similar size. This innovative approach combines traditional sailing techniques with modern technology such as SolidSail rigging from Chantiers de l'Atlantique, making it a pioneering example of sustainable shipping.The vessel's ability to transport a variety of cargo, including vehicles, luxury goods, and refrigerated items, while also accommodating passengers, demonstrates its versatility and potential to revolutionize the industry. The support from major global brands like Renault, Hennessy, and Clarins highlights the growing demand for eco-friendly shipping solutions. Overall, the Neoliner Origin represents a promising shift towards greener maritime transport, potentially setting a new standard for the industry.Learn more from Mr Zanuttini about the Neoliner Origin and Neoline's future development.

To wrap up 2024, we're thrilled to welcome Nico Cymbalist to the show. Calling from California, Nico will introduce us to Clippership, one of the few wind propulsion projects in the US.Nico, an aerodynamic specialist and former engineer at Mercedes Formula One and Tesla, founded Clippership a year ago with three partners. The company's ambition is to transport pallets faster and more cost-effectively than existing methods.In this captivating interview, Nico shares how his passion for sailing and autonomy led him to secure investment from 50 Years, a renowned California-based venture capitalist firm. Unlike the traditional European approach, Clippership's development strategy is distinctively innovative. They embrace the credo: start small, fail fast, learn and grow faster.Besides discussing the project, Nico offers fresh insights into the development of sailing cargoes and highlights the roadblocks encountered on this recent journey.

To launch the fourth season of Hoisting the Sail, we are delighted to welcome back Grain de Sail, the pioneer in modern, wind powered ocean shipping operating sailing cargoes since 2020. Stefan Gallard, marketing director is joined by Jacques Barreau, CEO and co-founder. In our first discussion with Stefan in 2021, he detailed the inception and early stage development of Grain de Sail, its unique business model: a shipowning company with a maritime business but also a land-based business with manufacturing plants for the production of chocolate and coffee, sold and distributed under the Grain de Sail brand. Please join us to learn more about Grain de Sail 2, the 51 meter, 350 tons schooner launched in March 2024 and sailing the Atlantic between Saint Malo, New York and Guadeloupe. In an exclusive interview, Jacques Barreau will reveal details of the next vessel Grain de Sail 3, a 3 masts with a capacity of 200 EVP, a breakthrough in the wind propulsion business. 

This episode is taking you to the high seas with our guest Boris Herrmann, the skipper of the IMOCA Team Malizia, currently racing around the world in the Ocean Race 2023. Yes, it's a lot about racing sailboats. You'll discover Boris's joy and thrills of racing high performance sailing machines around the planet, but it's also a lot about the future of maritime transportation. Because, it's now an evidence that offshore racing is an engine for innovations. Just like the America's Cup, Formula One or Nascar.Boris will guide you through the pathways between his sport and the development of wind assisted cargo vessels. Not only is he passionate about it, speaking like a true advocate, but he is also directly involved since Team Malizia joined  the International WindShip Association a few months ago. With his sponsors - a clever mix of foundations and private enterprises - he is guiding the adaptation of wind propulsion for several German based shipping companies. When Kat spoke with him, he was fresh off the boat, after a gruesome and epic victory in the longest leg, between Capetown, South Africa and Itajai, Brazil. But since Boris was waiting for a flight to take him back home in Germany, we recorded this interview from the airport. We apologize for the background noise.

This week's episode brings us down memory lane. Our guest on March 31st, 2021 was Roger Strevens,  VP Global Sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen. Roger shared with us the design and feasibility assessment of the Orcelle Wind, the car carrier that will be powered primarily by wind, killing emissions by up to 90% in comparison to other new-built ships. Today, Kat Bride is catching up with Niclas Dahl, managing director of Oceanbird: the Swedish company (joint venture of Alfa Laval and Wallenius) develops and provides technology for wind-powered vessel propulsion. The Oceanbird wing sails will equip the Orcelle Wind. Niclas is a true believer of using wind to power the maritime industry toward Zero Emission. He is leading his team “to take the step to try something new”,  developing  top of the art wing sails. “In my view, the more mature products today are the wind ones" tell us Niclas.  He reminds wind is a free energy, abundant and, thanks to the enormous progress of the last decades in forecasting, it's reliable! We can all agree, it's time to go forward!So Niclas Dahl is not wrong when he is saying “There will be early adopters. For the others, I hope they will wake up as soon as possible”

We are thrilled to introduce our two new guests. They met on a boat and decided to start a shipping company. They both are committed to succeed on their mission, helped by their passion and their business acumen. One is an accomplished athlete, a sailor whose credentials are world-renowned. The other is an engineer who has worked with success in the automobile industry. Together, with three other partners, they launched VELA Transport. François Gabart and Michael Fernandez-Ferri are our guests and we couldn't be more proud. François competes on the ocean with his state-of-the-art SVR Lazartigue while running his company Mer Concept. He recognized early on that his passion and skill in his racing endeavors could be translated into projects that can transform the way people are going to sea, on a ferry or a cruising boat made of flax.  So why not transpose this expertise into maritime transportation, with a goal to reach the sacrosanct Zero Emission? Francois Gabart's victories in the Vendee Globe in 2012, the Alain Colas Trophy in 2018 and many more, plus the work done by the pioneers at TOWT and Grain de Sail are part of the response. It's a challenge that Francois, Michael, Pascal Galacteros, Pierre Arnaud Vallon and Thibault Charles from VELA feel they have a good shot at and they want to bank on. 

This episode of Hoisting the Sail begins with the wish of a sail racer who yearned to pilot a flying sailboat above the water and win every race. In 1987, legendary sailor Éric Tabarly famously proclaimed that “one day, all boats will fly.” Today's guest, Richard Forest, CEO and co-founder of SEair, diligently leads a team of engineers to prove Tabarly was right! Founded in 2016 and based in Lorient, France, SEair rose above the competition to become the global specialist for hydrofoil vessels.  If wind propulsion can drastically reduce CO2 emissions from cargo ships, foiling is a proven solution to reduce fuel consumption for smaller boats, from commuter ferries to pleasure craft. In addition, foils are transforming gray boats (military vessels) into green ones. To wit, SEair was awarded EU grants to develop fast intervention boats for several European navies.Richard spoke passionately about his work as an innovator and entrepreneur. Changing the way we travel on water is a big issue, and adopting foils presents its own difficulties.Thankfully, SEair's expertise and dedication to designing and building better ships will lead us closer to a faster and cleaner future for maritime transport. If that's not enough to celebrate, foiling above the water reduces seasickness!

This new episode of Hoisting the Sail is taking you to Barcelona! Our guest is David Ferrer Desclaux, co-founder & CTO of bound4blue. A trained aerospace engineer, he switched to the vast horizon of our blue planet in 2015 and started, along with a group of classmates, bound4blue, “to power the world with wind”.Bound4Blue is developing an automated wind-assisted propulsion system, the eSAIL.If you grew up watching Commandant Jacques Cousteau adventures on TV, you may remember his 2nd boat, the Alcyone. Commandant Cousteau's team included two bright engineers, Professor Lucien Malavard and Doctor Bertrand Charrier. Together, they revived and improved the Flettner Rotor,  developing the a Suction Sail named the Turbosail™ - the ancestor of the eSAIL was born!Doctor Bertrand Charrier is now an associate at Bound4Blue! With the young and dedicated team of the Spanish start-up, they keep improving the Suction Sail technology & design, gaining an impressive 20% boost in fuel saving performance. Bound4Blue has become a major player in the growing wind propulsion technology. The eSAIL has been harnessing the wind since 2021, bringing live data to confirm the savings predicted by modelisations. For our aerospace engineer and his team, the sky's the limit!

Our guest today is Christiaan De Beukelaer, a sailor, traveller, and a researcher at the University of Melbourne. Christiaan and Kat discuss his bookTrade Winds, A voyage to a sustainable shipping.In 2020, Christiaan De Beukelaer spent 150 days covering 14,000 nautical miles aboard the schooner Avontuur, a hundred-year-old sailing vessel that transports cargo across the Atlantic Ocean. Embarking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he wanted to understand the realities of a little-known alternative to the shipping industry on which our global economy relies, and which contributes more carbon emissions than aviation.What started as a three-week stint of fieldwork aboard the ship turned into a five-month journey, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced all borders shut while crossing the ocean, preventing the crew from stepping ashore for months on end.Trade winds engagingly recounts De Beukelaer's life-changing personal odyssey and the complex journey the shipping industry is on to cut its carbon emissions. The Avontuur's mission remains crucial as ever: the shipping industry urgently needs to stop using fossil fuels, starting today. If we can't swiftly decarbonise shipping, we can't solve the climate crisis.Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature describes Christiaan's book as “a truly fascinating account of a voyage, but also of an idea that is counter-intuitive in a world based on speed, but revelatory for a planet that is going to have to start taking real care of itself. There's a bit of romance here, and a lot of reality."Deborah Cowen, author of The Deadly Life of Logistics, in turn says that “This is a book that should change the world.”It should indeed!Trade Winds is published by Manchester University Press; our listeners can order using the link below and get a 40% discount with the code GIFT40. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526163097/trade-winds/

In this episode,  you are in for a treat with our guest Daniel Hubbell.  We first met Dan around a glass of wine and a bar of chocolate aboard Grain de Sail last spring in Brooklyn and interviewed him in October when he was the Shipping Emission Campaign Manager for Ocean Conservancy (since the interview, Dan started a new position as Policy Analyst at U.S. Department of State) Daniel Hubbell takes us on a tour of the International Maritime Organization where he spent a few years of his  career advocating for Ocean Conservancy.  Thanks to Daniel insight, you will learn how the IMO is tackling GHG, what have been decided and how these new indexes (with acronyms such as EEDI and other CII) will translate in term of real solid change for an industry that has been seen as very difficult to move in the right direction to tackle the emergency of climate change. If you are naturally pessimistic about seeing one day governmental decision to address the pollution caused by the shipping industry, this episode will help you gain some optimism. For Daniel, even the mighty Jones Act represents a chance for a greener future in our ports and oceans. Just look at the Green Shipping Corridor announced by the United State and the Republic of Korea at the COP 27. Zero Emission Vessels will soon set SAIL! (one can dream, no?)

In this new episode, we are thrilled to receive Nicolas Abiven. Nicolas is a Senior Engineer at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique, the shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France. The 150 years old shipyard has launched some of the most iconic vessels, such as the Normandie, the Queen Mary 2 and the Splendor of the Sea to name a few. After launching a first concept ship equipped of sails, Eoseas, in 2009, les Chantiers have been developing a type of sails suitable for large cruise ships and for commercial ships. From this intensive research was born Solid Sail, a large, rigid sail made of composite rectangles assembled together, a system simple and efficient to harness wind energy. If you have visited Saint Nazaire or follow us on LinkedIn, you have seen their demonstrator in the middle of the busy shipyard. The Solid Sail setup is a mast, equipped with a balestron and a set of sails - mainsail and jib - constituted of rectangular panels made in composite. Using an electric winch, the Solid Sail can be raised and lowered in just a few minutes. When it's raised, it uses the wind the same way any sailboat does. The mast can be tilted to allow the boat to pass under bridges when entering or leaving a harbor.Nicolas takes the time from his busy schedule to present the concept, its applications, its market and why it's important for the Chantiers to develop a wind assist technology for their customers. We recorded this interview from the Monaco Yacht Show and are sorry for some  noise in the background. 

We launch today Season 3 with an interview of Clare Newman, the president and CEO of  the Trust for Governors Island.  Kat and Clare discuss many facets of sustainability and adaptability - New York City since Sandy, the current and future developments on Governors Island, its maritime facade and the many experiments that can be run from the Island.Governors Island, located South of Manhattan and East of the Statue of Liberty, was originally used by the Lenape as a hunting  & fishing camp, before becoming an US Army base then, from 1966 to the mid 90s, a base for 3,000 US Coast Guards. Since 2010, the Island is run by the Trust for Governors Island, a 501(c)(3) non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion cre­at­ed by the City of New York respon­si­ble for the plan­ning, oper­a­tions and ongo­ing devel­op­ment of Gov­er­nors Island. 

In this new episode of Hoisting the Sail, we are delighted to welcome two guests from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute:  Kerry Ann Crehan-Strøm, the Marine Operations Coordinator for WHOI and Magdalena Andres, associate scientist physical oceanography and an expert on climate variability & impacts.Magdalena and Kerry are speaking with our host Kat about Science RoCS, i.e. Research on Commercial Ships, an initiative launched to answer the need for increased ocean monitoring. According to NOAA, 80% of the ocean is still unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored:  Science RoCs aims to fill in some gaps with the help of the  shipping industry. Since Science RoCS started in 2021, companies such as CMA CGM, Pangaea Logistics Solutions and Wallenius Wilhelmsen have already helped deploy equipments and collected important datas. Today there are an estimated 100 ocean-going research vessels worldwide and more than 50,000 commercial ships on the ocean at any given time: "it will be a game changer to have sensors on more commercial vessels", Strom said. "Imagine what we could accomplish in terms of science advancement with even just a one percent of the commercial fleet equipped."

In this new episode, our guest, Benoit Baisle Dailliez, initiative leader for WISAMO by Michelin, explains how the giant tires manufacturer came to develop a solution suitable to any vessels, and more particularly cargo ships (new or existing).Their motto, “Engineered by Michelin, powered by the wind”, makes clear that the company is fully committed to the decarbonization of maritime transport and a decrease of greenhouse gasses emissions.WISAMO's team embarked in "a real adventure fully in line with Michelin's "all sustainable" approach." WISAMO is a wing sail, inflatable as the parent's company main line of products.  The prototype is still tested on a 40' sailboat off the coast of Royan in France, under the supervision of legendary sailor Michel Desjoyeaux, In a near future, a full scale WISAMO wing sail will be installed on a freighter operating in the Bay of Biscay. WISAMO is an active member of the International Wind Ship Association.

This week's episode is about performance sailing and how innovation in yacht racing can be transferred to maritime shipping, making it more efficient and cleaner. We are delighted to receive John Cooper, who is the CEO of BAR Technologies, a company that is at the forefront of maritime innovation. Cooper joined BAR Technologies as CEO In October 2019, swapping automotive technology for marine technology. At the end of 2020, Cargill announced a promising partnership with BAR Technologies to combine world-class yacht racing design and technology using wind propulsion to reduce carbon emissions. BAR Technologies is invested in becoming a key player in cutting emissions in the marine industry and has resulted in the development of their WindWings technology. WindWings combines wind propulsion with route optimization and depending on if the installation is a retrofit or combined with a fully optimized newbuilt hull, it could increase the fuel efficiency of vessels in excess of 30%. BAR has already secured 2 signed contracts for work on new vessels using WindWings.BAR Technologies has also patented FOSS (Foil Optimisation and Stability System), which combines hydrofoil technology with hull hydrodynamic optimization. The resulting system achieves significant hydrodynamic efficiency gains while actively improving handling and sea keeping. Join us as we discuss methods of achieving significant fuel savings and optimization for all types of vessels.

We are back this week to welcome Martina Reche Villanova, a naval architect and maritime engineer, with a special focus on aerodynamics, green shipping, and digitalization. Though originally from Spain, she finished her Master's degree at the Denmark University of Technology in Wind-Assisted Propulsion Systems. Villanova currently works at North Sails in Denmark, an international sailmaker and sailing wear company that designs, engineers and manufactures sails for racing and cruising sailboats. Here, she is developing the group strategy to get into the wind assist technology market. She is also pursuing a PhD on wind propulsion for commercial ships and details the objective of this endeavor and what she hopes to prove. Join us in our discussion with a bright and motivated young mind and listen in on what she believes is the most promising sail assist technology on the market. 

In this week's episode, we welcome Miles Keeney-Ritchie and Satchel Douglas, the founders of ALOFT. This startup champions wind propulsion and was founded in 2021. They aim to retrofit current ships with wind propulsion and optimize operations to significantly reduce shipping supply chain emissions. Our guests are creators and well-experienced in the technical field. Satchel is a naval architect and professional engineer. He has built sailing yachts, crewed on oil tankers, and engineered retrofits for numerous commercial ships. He also recently led the integration of the largest battery-electric ferry in the world. Miles has built mobile autonomous robots and worked in industrial process automation. He is an expert at integrating technology, with a decade of experience in mechanical design, hardware development, and project management. Their shared passion for decarbonization and solving challenging problems gave rise to Aloft where they try to make maritime shipping cleaner and more fuel-efficient. Currently, their retrofitted vessels reduce emissions per shipment by 50 percent; however, in the future, they will be emission-free.Michelin, among a group of 12 European cargo owners, has made a call to bid for a tender to move 1,000 TEUs weekly, from Europe to the US on wind-powered vessels that reduce CO2 emissions by 50%. This is an exciting opportunity for Aloft:  Miles and Satchel will detail their bidding process with us. Tune in to hear about their proposition and future plans for making maritime shipping cleaner using wind propulsion technology. 

In today's episode, we are delighted to host James Rhodes, the Chairman, CEO, and Co-founder of Magnuss, a maritime technology firm. Rhodes brings over 30 years of experience in maritime shipping, renewable energy, investment banking, and management consulting. Magnuss delivers onboard systems that reduce fuel consumption and emissions for today's global shipping fleet. Rhodes joins us to talk about a technology called the Magnuss VOSS™  which stands for Vertically-variable Ocean Sail System. The Magnuss VOSS is a mechanical sail that converts wind into forwarding thrust thereby augmenting ship propulsion. Similarly to the  Flettner Rotor, the Magnuss VOSS relies on the Magnus Effect,  which states that a rotating cylinder in a wind stream produces a force perpendicular to the wind direction. When wind hits the rotating cylinder it sets up a high and low-pressure difference and creates thrust roughly ninety degrees to the wind direction. A vessel sailing with the wind on the beam is therefore given maximum forward thrust from the spinning VOSS. The idea is to have the sails act as a supplement to the ship's installed engine power. This will increase fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions by harnessing the wind. Join us to learn about how the VOSS addresses major issues in the shipping industry, namely energy consumption and environmental impact, and the mechanisms available to help ship owners finance the retrofit.Magnuss is running until June 28 a funds raising campaign on Start Engine. 

We are delighted to receive today one of the early partners of Wind Support NYC,  Guilhem Gaillarde, calling from  Utrecht in the Netherlands. 

In today's episode, we are delighted to receive Ami Daniel, the co-Founder, and CEO of Windward: a maritime data and analytics company. Daniel is an entrepreneur and a driver of technological change and is the recipient of the Israeli President's Award for Social Activism and The Ilan Ramon Award for Leadership and Excellence.Windward is a Predictive Intelligence company that is digitalizing the global maritime industry. Their technology allows other ship owners & operators, banks and commodity traders access to real-time information about the maritime ecosystem to make predictive and financially secure decisions. The company has recently launched the Data for Decarbonization Program which is a hub for sharing data and technology to predict and reduce maritime carbon emissions. The goal is to create large datasets gathered from all stakeholders in the marine trade industry to build AI models that will accurately predict the carbon emissions of any vessel voyage and optimize the whole pre-fixture process.This technology will aid in solving the rush to wait issue. Did you know that shipping businesses lose an estimated 18 billion USD annually due to “Rush to Wait?” This happens when vessel operators, wanting to ensure their vessel arrives on time, rush their arrival and speed up the journey. This leads to a lot of fuel waste, increased CO2 emissions and is incredibly inefficient. Windward's AI offers a way to share information that will improve operational vessel efficiency. Join us to learn more about their unique data collection process and find out what makes Windward's approach different than other maritime innovators. 

This week we take a step back from our usual topic of wind propulsion and decarbonization of the maritime transport to promote a fairly new documentary: “Maiden.” This documentary tells the story of the first all-woman crew to race around the world on a sailboat named Maiden and how they challenged the male-dominated world of sailing. This endeavor begins with Tracy Edwards who recruited a 12-woman crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race – now known as The Ocean Race. Dawn Riley, who was one of the crew members on Maiden, joins us on this episode to describe the documentary. She details the incredible story of how the underdogs of a world-renowned competition went on to win 2nd place overall in their class. On May 18th, the Hudson River Maritime Museum will be the venue for screening the documentary. In addition, between June 8th to the 11th, Maiden will be at the Hudson River Maritime Museum docks and we encourage our listeners to visit. This program is free and open to the public, but donations are encouraged. For our listeners in New York City, Maiden will also be making a stop at the Brooklyn Marina from June 1st to June 8th. Check out their website for more information on their stop-over schedule and on the Maiden Factor. 

This week's guest is Yves Parlier, a legendary sailor and an individual with a passion for innovation. During the Vendee Globe 2000-2001, Parlier, after a devastating dismasting, completed an ingenious repair to his ship's wing mast and still managed to finish the race. This achievement, among others, has placed him in the public eye as an extraordinary sailor. He has since then switched careers and is now the CEO of Beyond the Sea. Beyond the Sea develops kite sails used to tow boats. In 2017, they launched the first towing sail for pleasure boats: the LibertyKite. Soon after, the LibertyKite Second Generation was launched: a kite sail steered by an automatic pilot that will also send and recover the sail. This is an exciting technology and for this episode, Yves joins us with Marine Rialan, project manager at Beyond the Sea, to discuss the potential of kite power.But what makes the LibertyKite so innovative? For starters, using kite sails is one of the easiest ways to retrofit cargo ships to utilize wind power. Kites are adaptable to all ships and can be attached with ease while retrofitting cargo ships to use sails is more complex and costly. In addition, when kites are not in use there is no drag from the wind or adverse affect to ship performance which cannot be said about sails. Beyond the Sea is also working on a new project called “SeaLab, '' where they will rebuild a catamaran to be self-sufficient in energy with zero emissions. Parlier hopes to transform the ship into a “laboratory of the sea,” where it will be used to develop new maritime technologies. Beyond the Sea was also selected to receive 1 million Euros in funding from Time for the Planet, biggest citizen community dedicated to global action against greenhouse gases emissions. Wind has been used for ship propulsion for thousands of years and despite our transition to bunker fuel in the 19th century, Parlier believes the future of maritime shipping lies with wind. Join us in this episode to get a glimpse into Beyond the Seas's role in innovating the green maritime shipping industry. 

Our guest this week, Geraud Pellat de Villedon, Head of CSR for the supply chain at Michelin, joins us to bring a new perspective on the shipping industry. Michelin, the French  tire manufacturer,  is one of the largest shippers worldwide, transporting 240,000 TEUs per year. This company has been a leader in innovating ways to be greener since they introduced their green tire technology in the early 90s. Now, they are delving even deeper and making their supply chain environmentally friendly as well. Michelin is part of Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), which is a coalition of companies that seeks to accelerate maritime shipping decarbonization. However, unlike other companies within the coalition, Michelin refuses to wait for shipping companies to propose a solution and has instead sought out low carbon transportation for their cargo. Michelin, among a group of 12 European cargo owners, has made a call to bid for a tender to move 1,000 TEUs weekly from Europe to the US on wind-powered vessels that reduce CO2 emissions by 50%. The selected shipping company would fulfill these requirements under the most optimal combination of lead times, carbon dioxide emissions reductions, and cost. Yet a key question remains: why have they chosen to harness the wind instead of opting for low carbon fuels? Tune in for this episode as we discuss Michelin's motive for taking such an initiative and how corporate social responsibility fits into the supply chain.

This week we welcome Dr Harilaos Psaraftis, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark. He completed his undergraduate studies in Greece and received a diploma from the National Technical University of Athens. He later received two M.Sc. degrees from MIT, the first in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and the second in Shipping and Shipbuilding Management. Shortly after, he acquired his Ph.D. in Ocean Systems Operations Research from MIT and went on to work as an Associate Professor at the institution for a decade.                                                                Psaraftis also served as CEO of the Piraeus Port Authority in the late '90s to early 2000s. During this period, ports faced new challenges as international regulations for shipping were shifting. Psaraftis shares his experiences with us and provides commentary on changes he thinks we can expect to see in the way ports operate in the future. His latest European Union project is AEGIS, which stands for Advanced, Efficient, and Green Intermodal Systems. It is a three-year project, and its objective is to design autonomous ships that will aid mainly intra-European maritime transport and short sea shipping. It will also design Europe's new sustainable and highly competitive waterborne logistics system. Not only does this initiative help Europe to move shipping from the roads to freight but it also serves as a model for other countries to follow suit and mobilize towards clean shipping. In this episode, we discuss a variety of topics ranging from climate change to the role carbon taxes have in internalizing environmental externalities. Join us and get an insider on what a maritime shipping expert believes it will take to achieve a zero-carbon fueled shipping industry. 

On today's episode we welcome Amadeus Beaujolin, director of development for Blue Observer.This low-carbon, maritime science research organization was created in Brest, France in 2021 and aims to better understand and preserve the ocean by collecting data on marine resources and collect specimens for microbiology.Iris, the boat used by Blue Observer relies on sail propulsion so their research expeditions are 100% emission-free. Blue Observer is also on a mission for an international program called Argo where they sail to collect data on the temperature and salinity in the ocean.Before the Argo program was started in 2000 then deployed at a global scale, scientists had only tracked oceanic changes along main maritime roads, which Beaujolin estimates to be only 1% of our oceans. Partnering with Woods Hole Institution and Ifremer, Blue Observer's recent mission on the Atlantic has deployed 97 Argo floats. Argo collects now data on more than 50% of our oceans, a massive step for bettering our understanding of the relationship between oceans and climate change.In addition, there is a sustainable message behind their work: using a sailboat, which is clean and silent, is the most appropriate and ideal tool for studying our oceans and climate change. Blue Observer is also participating in the One Ocean Summit. For a brief moment, Brest, France will be the center of the oceanographic world, where experts will gather at the summit to attempt to heighten global ambitions on solving maritime issues and come up with plans for efficient ocean governance.

The most beautiful ship sailed majestically into ONE°15 Brooklyn Marina at Brooklyn Bridge Park a few weeks ago, but what makes this ship so extraordinary and why should you pay attention to its ventures? We welcome Captain Marcus Seidl who shares the story behind the ship and its prospects for the future. Norway's 107-year-old three-masted tall ship,  278-foot sailing vessel was built in Germany in 1914 and then gifted to England as a war prize shortly after World War One. It is now embarking on an exciting voyage called the One Ocean Expedition. This expedition will cover 55,000 nautical miles and visit 36 countries around the world over the span of 20 months. It has  been tasked to measure water and air quality throughout the journey. The goal is to create awareness and share knowledge about the important role of the ocean for a sustainable future. In addition, the Lehmkuhl is a training ship and will be a training site for maritime officers. Here, officers will undergo intensive instruction as a part of their education and learn good seamanship. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from dangerous voyages through Cape Horn to sail assist technologies, and learn about some of the challenges and innovations within the maritime sector.

This week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan to invest $500 Million in Critical Offshore Wind Infrastructure. This investment is proof that society recognizes offshore wind turbines have little in common with the historic windmills of The Netherlands. However, a vast majority of maritime supply chain professionals still believe wind propulsion is an obsolete and unreliable technology, completely uncompetitive in today's shipping framework. This week's guest, Guillaume Le Grand, is challenging this sentiment though. Le Grand, the CEO and co-founder of TransOceanic Wind Transport,  just announced that TOWT is constructing its first modern cargo ship. The wind-powered ship will have a 1,100-ton goods capacity and will be designed to spend 320 days at sea per year, reducing emissions by more than 90%, i.e. save 3,000 tons of CO2 per year.Le Grand is an innovator that is proving that we can modernize old technology to satisfy our shipping demands, not to mention reaping the benefits of decreased emissions.  It is important to note that these innovations are being supported by government programs  recognizing the shipping industry is changing. NYC DOT has announced the Blue Highways Program, a commitment to encouraging the use of NYC's waterways to move goods sustainably into and around the City. This new dependency on marine facilities for freight transport is a window of opportunity for maritime professionals to be a part of the green shipping movement.  

To end our inaugural season, we are back in the Hudson Valley, speaking with Sam Merrett, the captain of the Schooner Apollonia and his supercargo, Brad Vogel. Sam and his team have successfully transformed a yacht they bought off craigslist into a cargo sailboat that is turning heads in ports throughout New York State. This vessel is completely powered by the wind and has transported all sorts of cargo up and down the Hudson River. This is not a project that idolizes shipping vessels of the past but instead aims to inspire others to be a part of a growing movement that is committed to lowering the carbon footprint of the shipping industry. Sam argues that not only does the Schooner Apollonia sustainably move cargo but she also delivers products with a story.Join us as we discuss this story to learn more about the green maritime transportation of thefuture and the role sailboats have to play in it.

This week we take a step back from our usual focus on wind propulsion to delve into another important aspect of marine decarbonization: financing.Our guest Harold Malone joins us to talk about a project he co-founded, the Marine Money Decarbonization Index (MMDI).This index tracks the performance of the equity securities of 50 global companies that are committed to decarbonizing the maritime sector. Malone envisions that the MMDI will raise awareness of the challenges the maritime sector is facing, attracting investment and technological solutions into the industry.Since you cannot invest directly in an index, Malone has partnered with ETFMG to create the ETFMG Breakwave Sea Decarbonization Tech ETF, which is designed to replicate the returns of the MMDI.What had started out as a tool for the industry, is now a platform that is providing an opportunity for anyone who wants to participate in maritime decarbonization via the ETF.Join us to explore an effort that is marking a key transition to a maritime sector that is becoming more accessible to the public.

We receive this week Hauke Kite-Powell, research specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and senior analyst at Marsoft Inc,  an independent maritime consultancy providing expert, objective and timely support for investment, chartering and financing decisions.Industrial projects including solar and wind power issued more than $126 million in carbon credits in 2019. But so far, shipping has not taken advantage of the carbon credits funding opportunities.Marsoft's GreenScreen™ is a retrofit evaluation platform, developed in collaboration with the MIT, providing an extremely accurate assessment of the benefits of the retrofit.GreenScreen™ was recently accepted by the Gold Standard – the preeminent global carbon registry – as the basis for issuing carbon credits for investments that reduce CO2 emissions from ships.Will carbon credits bridge the gap and bring the missing incentive necessary to boost the adoption of wind assist technologies?

We are delighted to receive on the podcast this week Stephanie Lesage,  the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Airseas.  Airseas, founded in 2016 by Airbus engineers,  is developing one of the most promising technologies to harness the wind: the Seawing combines kite-technology with an automated flight control system developed by the aerospace industry. The timing could not be better:  the first Seawing is currently being installed on the Airbus vessel that will sail to Mobile, Alabama later this month for the first flight in live conditions. 

This week we receive Nils Joyeux, the CEO of Zephyr & Boree. A former merchant marine officer, Nils co-founded Zephyr & Boree in 2014 to offer low carbon transport services. Nils tells us more about Canopee, the 127 meter hybrid vessel that will carry the Ariane 6 rocket from Europe to French Guyana: it will be operated  end of 2022 by a joint venture Jifmar Offshore Service / Zephyr & Boree.Nils also details the  hybrid vessels they are working on - Zephyr & Boree is undoubtedly one of the most exciting start ups currently developing in the shipping industry. 

This week, we are delighted to propose a fascinating discussion with Maurice Glucksman on the show.Naval architect by training , Maurice tells us more about his early career at the Wind Ship Company and his experience on board the Mini Lace, a tramp bulker that sailed off the East Coast in the early 80s when the oil crisis created a lot of interest in trying to take advantage of wind power to save on fuel.Through the eyes of an investor in 2021, Maurice reflects on the use of direct wind energy  onboard a ship and the associated risks, hurdles and returns on investments.More broadly, we discuss zero emission sailing cargos  and the alterations to the way the global supply chain is currently working.Thank you Maurice for your time on the show.

We are delighted to receive this week Dr Sergio Perez, PhD, a professor of marine engineering at the US Merchant Marine Academy.  Sergio presents an update of a 1975 MARAD (U.S. Maritime Administration) report which concluded that commercial ships using sail power were not economically viable when compared with engine-powered vessels. The 2021 update concludes the opposite: it is economically smart to use sail at this point as a principal means of propulsion."A slam dunk for the sailing ships, a no brainer with one thing which needs to be addressed: the height of the masts" 

Zero Emission Shipping is around the corner! Last week, we presented the shipping route between Central America and North America soon to be offered by Sailcargo Inc  and its flagship Ceiba. On this week's episode, we receive Jean Zanuttini,  CEO of Neoline, shipping start up based  in Nantes, France. Renault, Beneteau, Manitou, Hennessy, Michelin, Clarins, Longchamp - the list of Neoline's  marquee customers onboarding on zero carbon shipping is impressive! Since announcing the construction of its first two 136m ro-ro vessel, Neoline has been closely watched by the shipping industry.  Thank you Jean for telling us more about Neoline: the inspiration behind the project, the design of the Neoliner, the niche market you are addressing, the challenges of  financing such an asset, the operational model to fit your customers' supply chain and much more!

The SailCargo project has been on our radar since we launched the podcast; we are delighted to receive  Danielle Doggett, the CEO and co-founder of SailCargo Inc, on our 15th episode.  Danielle, calling us from AstilleroVerde, the jungle shipyard in  Punta Morales, Costa Rica, tells us more about the construction of Ceiba, a cargo vessel designed to carry 250 tons of goods.  Creating a shipyard from scratch in the jungle, bringing foreign investment in one of the poorest regions of Costa Rica are two of the many challenges overcome by Danielle and her team - an amazing and so inspiring project. Thank you Danielle, Lynx and John for making this live!

In this week episode, we welcome Kris Fumberger, the head of sustainability and environment at RightShip. RightShip is used by charterers, banks, insurances to better understand performances of a vessel. Initially focused on safety,  demande for due diligence on the environmental side has been growing since 2012.  Kris walks us through the GHG ratings methodology used at RightShip and the tools and analytics provided to  better understand vessel performance and associated risk.

This week, we receive Madeline Rose, Climate Campaign Director at Pacific Environment to present the report Shady Ships - Retail Giants Pollute Communities and Climate with Fossil-Fueled Ocean Shipping.Pacific Environment, a global environmental organisation dedicated to the preservation of communities and wildlife of the Pacific Rim, has been working on cleaner shipping policies for 15 years, with a consultative seat at the IMO for 10 years.  "Everyone is talking about transportation decarbonization, i.e. how to electrify cars, how do we electrify trucks. That conversation has not extended to the seas. Ocean shipping is really getting a free pass in the public conversation about transportation decarbonization."Recognizing the retail companies, the actual cargo owners  are left out and not actively participating in the forums on decarbonization, Pacific Environment decided to  kick start a conversation on the responsibilities of the largest  retailers in the US . This initial investigation was produced to better understand the pollution and public health impact of maritime shipping, i.e. the shipping of  imported goods in the US: By importing goods to the U.S. on dirty, fossil fueled ships in 2019, just 15 retail companies emitted as much climate pollution as the energy use of 1.5 million U.S. homes."These major companies are hiding from the public the true amount of pollution they produce from their supply chain. Of the top 15 maritime importers in the US, only Ikea and Nike are reporting their ocean maritime emissions" "Amazon just launched Shipment Zero - making a commitment to their customers that there will be zero emissions of their products from the  warehouse to their front door. But they completely omitted everything it takes to get a product from Asia all the way across the Pacific Ocean to the warehouse"

On 5 December 2017, the United Nations declared that a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development would be held from 2021 to 2030. The Ocean Decade provides a common framework to ensure that ocean science can fully support countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are very pleased to receive this week Millicent Pitts, the executive director of The Ocean Exchange ™️, one of the many ongoing projects.The Ocean Exchange ™️ was started 10 years ago: it is an optimistic, forward looking and solutions oriented ecosystem builder with the sole mission to help advance the adoption of innovative solutions for healthy oceans & resilient and sustainable coastal systems.This summer, they have 4 awards for a total grant of $235,000, with an open call for solutions  helping ocean preservation as well as decarbonization of the maritime transport. Deadline is August 23 for the Neptune and Orcelle Awards with each $100,000 award. Below is the link to apply - https://lnkd.in/dAU_nEUC

In this week episode, we look at vessel design and energy savings with our guest Konstantinos Fakiolas, a Greek naval architect who moved to Finland a few years ago to specialize in energy efficiency and wind assist technologies. Kostas is the author of the reference book Wind Propulsion Principles, a complete guide to harvesting the winds for commercial shipping, edition 2.0 was released in December 2020. In this interview, Kostas details  the 3 main wind assist technologies - Flettner, Wing Sail and Kite, providing a hands on analysis of benefits and limitations for each of them. 

As Europe's busiest seaport, Rotterdam is buzzing with conversations about climate change, clean energy, and building the vessels of tomorrow.  In today's episode, we speak with Katarin Van Orshaegen, the Commercial Lead at GoodShipping, a Dutch-based company that guides ship owners who are ready to look beyond fossil fuels but don't know where to start.Speaking from her office overlooking the port of Amsterdam, we discussed the problems and opportunities ship owners face when deciding how to fuel their cargo vessels in an era of more choices, legislation around decarbonization, environmentally aware and engaged customers, costly lawsuits, and aging fleets.She pointed out that in 2021, manufacturers who import and export overseas have very few options to reduce the Scope 3 emissions created by moving their goods across the oceans.Carbon offsetting is usually the choice of those manufacturers; however, carbon offsetting doesn't directly reduce the emissions, it simply pays a premium price for being a polluter. GoodShipping enters the picture as the first sustainable shipping initiative in the world, offering companies the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint by switching their cargo shipping activities to biofuel.  So far, the feedback is overwhelmingly positive as evidenced by winning clients like IKEA and being highlighted as carbon insetting frontrunners by DHL and Smart Freight Center (SFC)Through this interview, Katarin details how two Dutch, purpose driven sister companies make this possible: - GoodShipping customers finance the introduction of biofuels in the fuel mix, insetting their scope 3 emissions.  - GoodFuels produce sustainable biofuels from many types of waste, then deliver the biofuel to the selected vessel within a fleet. We offer a huge thanks to Katarin for teaching us about carbon insetting, the Mass Balance principle and for clarifying that drop-in biofuels DO NOT require ship owners to retrofit the fuel apparatus in their vessels.  Good Shipping is now available to US companies.

In this week episode, we interview Tuomas Riski, a passionate Finnish entrepreneur, a citizen of the world who decided to act to reduce the global carbon emissions.In 2012, Tuomas founded Norsepower Oy Ltd, bringing to the market a 21st century version of the Flettner Rotor.At a time the carbon intensity of a vessel becomes critical, Tuomas Riski presents the use case of the M/V Estraden, a Ro-Ro vessel equipped with 2 mechanics sails since 2014.M/V Estraden sails the North Sea, on a typical route between the UK and the Netherlands. The 2 rotor sails, 18m high each, save 400,000 kg of fuel on an annual basis.

We started this podcast to feature not only established firms using wind propulsion, but to give up-and-comers a chance to describe their journey.  In our conversation with Charlie Bogue, Director of Market Development & Strategy at Wind + Wing Technologies, we hear how a young company won a coveted bid to retrofit passenger ferries in the San Francisco Bay.  While competing against larger companies with longer histories and bigger gas tanks, Wind & Wing Technologies edged out the field by suggesting a hybrid solution with an eye to efficient routes, passenger satisfaction and low environmental impact.  The  approach piqued the interest of local legislators and ferry operators who praised an affordable and low-carbon answer to moving commuters across the bay. Raised in the Bay Area and currently living in Europe, Charlie's opinions on ship decarbonization, input from lawmakers, short sea shipping, market uptake in Europe and autonomous vessels are informed by his cross-borders experience.  He also told us about his role as the sole Yankee on the Executive Committee of the International WindShip Association (IWSA), and how as membership continues to grow, so does the urgency to present a cohesive message across the board.  Charlie's passion for wind power grew from his childhood sailing trips with family on the West Coast and a concurrent career as the Director of Charters & Marketing for Adventure Cat Sailing, which takes 40,000 tourists per year on catamaran cruises under the Golden Gate Bridge.

This week we take a deep dive into the financing of maritime assets.  Our guest is Tony Foster, CEO of Marine Capital in London, a maritime asset manager that links institutional capital to the shipping market. Through real-life examples of investment strategies, Tony describes the changing behavior of the pension & infrastructure funds who comprise his investors. He explains that nowadays they are primarily driven by concerns about sustainability. “Those institutions increasingly make decisions based upon numerous environmental and other precepts which will have to be met for investments to be sanctioned.”Tony also explains his recent choice to focus on offshore wind “LNG is increasingly challenging: the institutional investors thinks in a longer term perspective: while the debate rages about the future of LNG, naturally it becomes more difficult to place the investment” We also touch upon the transition toward zero carbon shipping:  “For deep sea shipping, there are no carbon neutral solutions available as we speak. That solution will come over a generation. There are clear directions but the ultimate choices have not been made. So the transition is currently about Energy Saving Devices, which can be added to existing technologies over the next decade or so, ranging from wind assist, digital technologies, air bubbles, new propellers… There is a pretty serious piece of technical work required on a ship by ship basis to understand how a certain target might be reached. “But for Tony, the energy savings is facing a fundamental obstacle:  “We have a split incentive problem in the shipping world: a tonnage provider, a typical ship owner that rents out his ship, doesn't get rewarded for making energy savings improvements.  So the improvement that he makes would be reflected in a higher rate which would directly reflect the value of the savings of fuel, but it won't reflect the investment that he has to make in the technology. Charterers are happy to take the benefits of the cost savings, but they are not happy to pay a return on the extra investment.” Tony also walks us through the market based measures, recently announced or to be expected:  “At a global level, we are ultimately expecting a fuel tax. We think the solution to the gap between the cost of new technologies and the equity risk that goes into those technologies has to be bridged by a variety of means. Although there are administrative issues around the operation of that tax, the IMO is the obvious organ through which it could be administered. “Last but not least, because ESG also includes Social and Governance, Tony calls for more transparency & collaboration in the industry. “One of the key challenges for the attraction of new capital to the industry is its poor record on governance, what is missing is this virtuous circle of collaborative business dealings and transparency of operations.”

Every cause needs its evangelists and the International WindShip Association has been spreading the gospel of wind propulsion since 2014.  As the Secretary General of the Association, it's up to Gavin Allwright to keep wind propulsion top of mind for commercial ship owners, policy makers and regulators.The journey to become a leader in advocacy was not smooth sailing, but today, the IWSA's 130+ membership is taking IMO's 2030 goals a step further by declaring the years 2021-2030 as the “Decade of Wind Propulsion”, an era of delivering wind propulsion installations, optimizing the technology solutions and helping to facilitate a quicker, deeper and ultimately cheaper transition to a fully decarbonized fleet.  At the heart of our conversation, Gavin presents the motivations and objectives behind the IWSA's March 24th open letter to the global shipping industry.  We paraphrase the key points here…..1. Establish a Multi-Stakeholder International Working Group to evaluate and quantify wind propulsion's potential  contribution to decarbonize the global fleet in the face of the climate emergency. Promote a hybrid approach to decarbonization with wind propulsion fully integrated with optimization measures along with eco-fuels. 2. Launch a Comprehensive Strategic Review of shipping industry decarbonization efforts in the context of the climate  emergency. The review should quantify all externalities including  infrastructure development and production costs of all alternative propulsion systems and fuels along with their direct  and indirect climate impacts.  3. Ensure a ‘level playing field' is created and maintained for all power systems, removal of market and non-market barriers  as well as fair and balanced allocation of R&D finances and resources in the future. 4. Do more and go beyond the current narrow fuel-centric approach by adopting a fully integrated alternative propulsion  approach to decarbonization pathways and policy. Our biggest takeaway from Gavin is a quote he made toward the end of the interview.  He simply asserted “We really can't be ignoring such an incredibly important energy source that is uniquely available for shipping.” We could not have said it better ourselves. 

Grain de Sail is a French company charting new waters. We first learned about them in 2018 during one of their exploratory visits to New York and have watched them grow from fantasy to reality to a company to watch.  In our latest episode, we speak to their marketing director, Stefan Gallard, and ask him to explain how the singular dream of two twin brothers grew into a 72 foot cargo sailboat, coffee refiner, chocolate manufacturer and organic wine exporter within a few years. Highlights of our conversation include Stefan telling us how, despite four weeks crossing the choppy Atlantic, Grain de Sail's December 2020 maiden voyage to New York successfully delivered 15,000 bottles of French wine without a scratch.  We also sail beyond the buzzwords and learn why running a sustainable business is one of their core principles from the first wine harvest to the last mile of delivery.The big takeaway from this interview is that with vision, elbow grease, smart finances and the right partners, cargo sailboats definitely have a place in global maritime trade and may soon lead the pack to incorporate wind propulsion in many new builds. 

We are always learning from our guests and this week was no exception.  Joining us this time is Bradley Golden, Assistant Professor of Naval Architecture at Webb Institute in Glen Cove, New York.Webb Institute is the USA's premier undergraduate institution specializing in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.  All students are admitted on a full-tuition scholarship and graduate with 8 months to one year of practical experience in the field. Webb graduates go on to fill top positions in many aspects of the shipping industry, from military to design to commercial to policy makers.     In our discussion, Bradley Golden paints a picture of the maritime shipping industry in the United States today.  He explains the origin and impact of the 1920 Jones Act, the transformation of the industry toward decarbonization, as well as the opportunities created by the future implementation of wind farms in the New York New Jersey Bight.  Bradley opened our eyes to the possibilities in our own backyard and gave us reasons to look to the future with hope. 

This week, we interview Roger Strevens, VP Global Sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a market leader in RoRo shipping and vehicle logistics.  Headquartered in Oslo, with 9,500 employees in 29 countries, Wallenius Wilhelmsen operates a fleet of 120 modern RoRos on a global trade network, with a 3 billion USD revenue in 2020.In this episode, Roger introduces our listeners to Orcelle Wind, a concept vessel that will be powered primarily by wind and reduce emissions by up to 90% in comparison to other new-build ships. Roger details the design and feasibility assessment currently taking place: Orcelle Wind, a full size vessel, can carry 7,000 cars and will be biggest sailing vessel ever built if Wallenius Wilhelmsen finds a way to construct it.Roger also provides a deep dive into the uncertainties facing the shipping industry regarding decarbonization.  He highlights the huge opportunity to grow market share for the leaders who prioritize and actualize zero emission vessels.  It sounds impossible on today's standards, but it's not so far away.https://www.walleniuswilhelmsen.com/news-and-insights/highlighted-topics/orcelle

In our inaugural episode with our guest Andrew Willner, we discussed the state of the shipping industry and its dependency on fossil fuels.  Andrew cast doubts that regulators will force change without a strong grassroot movement.  He ended on a positive note though, and declared that proven and effective technologies to harvest the wind are now available, in addition to the innovative designs that reduce the energy required to move ships.  This week, we interview Simon Watin, President of VPLP design, a world-renowned French naval architecture and design firm, known in the US for designing & building the BMW Oracle ship, the 2010 winner of America's Cup. Simon explained the current technology transfer between two worlds that were previously distinct from one another: High-performance racing sail yachts and workhorse shipping vessels. In this exclusive interview, he reveals how VPLP won the bid to build the Canopée, the first sail-powered rocket carrier which will transport the Ariane 6 rocket from Europe to French Guiana.https://www.ariane.group/en/news/video-alizes-unveils-the-new-vessel-for-ariane-6-transport-to-kourou/Ariane Group has selected international maritime transport specialist @Alizés - joint venture between Jifmar Offshore Services and maritime company Zéphyr & Borée - for transportation of Ariane 6 rocket parts by sea from Europe to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. The new ship – called “Canopée” – will be equipped with a hybrid propulsion system with mechanical wingsails to provide a means of transport that is reliable, competitive, and environmentally responsible.

Our guest is Mr Andrew Willner,  the executive director of the Center for Post Carbon Logistics based in New York Hudson Valley. A passionate advocate for a sustainable future, Andrew Willner is also a writer, an author and a consultant. Andrew, a man of many passions,  is above all an indefatigable spokesperson for the use of the wind to power our supply chain in the Hudson Valley. We were lucky to have him as our very first guest. Andrew's point of view is that every component is in place to move on a decarbonated society, wind powered maritime shipping being part of this movement.