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It seems like the lack of shipping containers would be a big bottleneck? Almost all ports around the world have standardized on shipping containers for various
by Jalad 4y ago
It seems like the lack of shipping containers would be a big bottleneck? Almost all ports around the world have standardized on shipping containers for various port logistics, so how can these sailing ships integrate with existing ports?
Otherwise though it's an elegant idea. It would be pretty cool to see more wind powered ships
- throwawaaarrgh 4y agoIt's not like this is alien technology. You park the boat along a pier and you hoist a crane over it. There are a lot of ships that still need to use ports that are not cargo ships. Cargo ships are just one aspect of regular maritime traffic.
- gpm 4y agoI'm not in the industry, but modern ports seem to me to be optimized for offloading ships with cargo stacked high in shipping containers on deck without significant obstructions interfering with cranes. Not ships with a bunch of masts for sails.
- jamiek88 4y agoWhile that is true, 'break bulk' is still very manually handled thus expensive. Things that don't fit in containers basically. Often its roll on roll off rather than crane. So there are non container options but if they could use containers for break bulk they would so the efficiency of this is probably not very high.
- IshKebab 4y agoOf course it's not alien technology, it's just obsolete technology.
- elchief 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakbulk_cargo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakbulk_cargo is still a thing
- darksaints 4y agoIt definitely is still a thing but it has evolved substantially due to competition from containers, tankers, and dry bulk ships. Nowadays break bulk is almost exclusively for things that don’t have even a remote possibility of breaking down into container sized chunks.
- jeffrallen 4y agoSailcargo has an integrated rail and crane system to move big-bags into the hold.