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Autonomous sailing ships are entirely possible today. I wonder how cost competitive that would be for less time sensitive cargo, which is the largest amount of
by api 4y ago
Autonomous sailing ships are entirely possible today. I wonder how cost competitive that would be for less time sensitive cargo, which is the largest amount of cargo by mass.
- hedgehog 4y agoCounterintuitively wind power could be faster than oil. Oil burning ships are optimized for efficiency because fuel is a major expense, wind energy is use it or lose it at zero marginal cost so there's no reason not to go as fast as possible.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- darksaints 4y agoIt could be, but it’s not. Optimal speeds for cargo ships are going to be their hull speeds, which are usually between 12 and 18 knots, but these ships are typically traveling 25+. Ships often exceed their hull speeds because short times from port to port is more profitable than saving fuel. They could save 2-4x on fuel costs, but lose far more than that in revenue.
- TomK32 4y agoJust to make this clear, you are not suggesting unmanned cargo ships?
- duxup 4y agoThe thing is that it’s not like less time sensitive cargo isn’t being shipped. It is, and it’s still pretty fast and cheap.
- moffkalast 4y agoGood question, why hasn't Saildrone made a cargo version yet...
- BizarroLand 4y agoIt might be tough for it to work, because piracy is a thing. Pirates would probably love unmanned, unarmed sailboats full of high value trading commodities.