Kite-powered ocean liner takes to the sea

It may sound like nonsense, but check this out: a cargo ship is sailing the oceans using a kite to aid its movement.

Damned cool, don’t you think? SkySails is responsible…

Apparently, a source in the maritime business (who isn’t Captain Birdseye) tells Greenbang the industry is “seriously looking into clean ships”.

Apparently, our source says, “90% of all transport globally is via the oceans and you don’t want to know the stuff they use for fuel”…

Still looks a bit weak and flimsy though, doesn’t it?

The first commercial cargo ship with additional propulsion by a towing kite system will be commissioned by the Beluga Group. On Saturday, 15 December 2007, the Multi Purpose Heavy Lift Carrier MS “Beluga SkySails” was ceremonially christened at the “Landungsbrücken/Überseebrücke” in Hamburg. All components of the SkySails-System have been installed on deck. The cargo vessel can now “set sail” for the very first time – starting with a towing kite of 160 square meters in size.

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We blog on this rather than the environmental problems of the world because we are interested in the answers to climate change.