The second cargo sailboat from TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) arrived for the first time in France, in Le Havre, on Tuesday December 17. The schooner Artemis left the Piriou shipyard in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on September 10, where it was built. Passing through Reunion Island, the ship then reached the port of São Sebastião, between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, to load coffee from Belco in particular last month. According to data from its automatic identification system (AIS), the ship left on November 19.
A report on Brazilian television
The arrival in France of the steel schooner measuring 81 meters long by 15 meters wide will give rise to its inauguration. It will be baptized on Friday, December 19, in the presence of the mayor of Le Havre, Edouard Philippe, but also shippers, such as César Giron, CEO of Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët, and Alexandre Bellangé, director of Belco, a key player in coffee imports. .
TOWT quickly acquired a fleet of Phénix class cargo sailboats, 1500 UMS tonnage, using sail as main propulsion. A first ship, named Anemos, also built by Piriou, was already christened in October. Six more are expected.
These steel schooners with an air draft of 63 meters can carry up to 2,200 m2 of sail area which allows them to sail at around 10 knots, according to TOWT, in order to transport 1,100 tonnes of goods distributed in six holds. in pallets. The armament wants to sail most of the time, but the ships are still equipped with a 4-stroke diesel-electric propulsion (2 x 422 kWm at 1790 rpm) supported by a bow thruster which facilitates port maneuvers. The machines also make it possible to power the batteries and the board when the variable pitch propellers which can act as hydro-generators cannot provide sufficient energy.
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