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> The 136-metre-long vessel had to rely partly on its auxiliary motor and its remaining sail after the aft sail was damaged in a storm shortly after departure.

> The 136-metre-long vessel had to rely partly on its auxiliary motor and its remaining sail after the aft sail was damaged in a storm shortly after departure. Well, that's a bummer. That said, this does seem the way of the future. We just need to either figure out maintenance robots and/or find a way to keep human crew happy on long, slow voyages across the Pacific.

rdl 11mo ago
The rigid aerofoil sails seem more maintenance-free. Some of those are inflatable as well.
aidenn0 11mo ago
Apparently late 19th to 20th century wind cargo ships had their crew essentially subsidized by the fact that some countries (IIRC in Scandinavia?) required commercial sailing experience to get a pilot's license. For bulk cargo (e.g. grain or guano) the economies worked out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-hulled_sailing_ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-hulled_sailing_ship
- bergie 11mo ago
  These trips happened all the way to late 1940s. Here's a good book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Grain_Race https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Grain_Race If you get the chance, the Pommern is a beautifully preserved ship from that era in Mariehamn's excellent maritime museum.
Aurornis 11mo ago
> or find a way to keep human crew happy on long, slow voyages across the Pacific. The few people I know who pursued jobs on boats did so because they liked being out at sea, away from land. Combine that with the modern availability of high speed internet via Starlink and entertainment is not a problem.
- HardwareLust 11mo ago
  Spent 13 years at sea, loved every minute. I actually liked it better before phones and Internet came onboard.
  - Mistletoe 11mo ago
    What did you do with your time and enjoy?
    - HardwareLust 11mo ago
      Work out, read, video games, watch movies, play cards or chess, etc. Plenty to do!
- jacquesm 11mo ago
  > The few people I know who pursued jobs on boats did so because they liked being out at sea, away from land. Maybe it wasn't just the land they were getting away from.
  - ozim 11mo ago
    Not sure if you ever been at full sea. I was once, well I wasn’t working just visiting but it was kind of outer world feeling. I lived by the sea my whole life so sea on its own was not much special for me but being on the ship anchored in the middle of water with no land in sight was just different.
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]
waltbosz 11mo ago
> find a way to keep human crew happy on long, slow voyages across the Pacific. Makes me think of Rory Sutherland's ideas for getting passengers to be ok with a long ride duration on the Eurostar https://www.instagram.com/reel/C98_wbssLjG/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/C98_wbssLjG/
nradov 11mo ago
You've got to be kidding. Using a fully sail powered cargo vessel is a PR stunt, not the way of the future. Regular motorized cargo vessels will probably use some form of sails to slightly reduce fuel burn on downwind legs but it's physically impossible to move huge volumes of cargo purely by sail power in an economical way. There just isn't enough energy in the wind.
- jacquesm 11mo ago
  That's both wrong and right at the same time. There is plenty of energy in the wind, but when it isn't blowing in a favorable direction for your journey it will cause you to have to considerably lengthen your trip or end up in places where you don't want to go. It also isn't as constant and/or reliable as a motor. But until a few hundred years ago wind was all we had, and there is no reason why you could not make a containership that is wind powered just like it used to be. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of hull that would be. When the wind is blowing, favorable direction or not and it exceeds your expectations you're going to find out that there is more energy in the wind than you are prepared to deal with. If you've ever been on a sailboat in a storm that is the last thing you would write.
  - nradov 11mo ago
    Nonsense. Even if the wind is blowing the right direction it doesn't have enough energy to move a huge merchant vessel at economically viable speeds. Do you have any clue about the mass and drag involved with something like a 20000 TEU container ship? There is no magic hull shape which can ever make sail propulsion alone make sense. This is basic physics.
    - skylurk 11mo ago
      Those same 20000 TEU container ships are famously susceptible to being blown about by winds when they loose power. The stronger argument is that wind is not consistent or reliable enough for logistics. At least, not without doing a lot of extra math. So I agree that sail propulsion alone won't happen at large, but it's an interesting question of how far in that direction commercial shipping can go with modern technology.

rdl 11mo ago

The rigid aerofoil sails seem more maintenance-free. Some of those are inflatable as well.

aidenn0 11mo ago

Apparently late 19th to 20th century wind cargo ships had their crew essentially subsidized by the fact that some countries (IIRC in Scandinavia?) required commercial sailing experience to get a pilot's license. For bulk cargo (e.g. grain or guano) the economies worked out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-hulled_sailing_ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-hulled_sailing_ship

bergie 11mo ago
These trips happened all the way to late 1940s. Here's a good book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Grain_Race https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Grain_Race If you get the chance, the Pommern is a beautifully preserved ship from that era in Mariehamn's excellent maritime museum.

Aurornis 11mo ago

> or find a way to keep human crew happy on long, slow voyages across the Pacific. The few people I know who pursued jobs on boats did so because they liked being out at sea, away from land. Combine that with the modern availability of high speed internet via Starlink and entertainment is not a problem.

HardwareLust 11mo ago
Spent 13 years at sea, loved every minute. I actually liked it better before phones and Internet came onboard.
- Mistletoe 11mo ago
  What did you do with your time and enjoy?
  - HardwareLust 11mo ago
    Work out, read, video games, watch movies, play cards or chess, etc. Plenty to do!
jacquesm 11mo ago
> The few people I know who pursued jobs on boats did so because they liked being out at sea, away from land. Maybe it wasn't just the land they were getting away from.
- ozim 11mo ago
  Not sure if you ever been at full sea. I was once, well I wasn’t working just visiting but it was kind of outer world feeling. I lived by the sea my whole life so sea on its own was not much special for me but being on the ship anchored in the middle of water with no land in sight was just different.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]

waltbosz 11mo ago

> find a way to keep human crew happy on long, slow voyages across the Pacific. Makes me think of Rory Sutherland's ideas for getting passengers to be ok with a long ride duration on the Eurostar https://www.instagram.com/reel/C98_wbssLjG/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/C98_wbssLjG/

nradov 11mo ago

You've got to be kidding. Using a fully sail powered cargo vessel is a PR stunt, not the way of the future. Regular motorized cargo vessels will probably use some form of sails to slightly reduce fuel burn on downwind legs but it's physically impossible to move huge volumes of cargo purely by sail power in an economical way. There just isn't enough energy in the wind.

jacquesm 11mo ago
That's both wrong and right at the same time. There is plenty of energy in the wind, but when it isn't blowing in a favorable direction for your journey it will cause you to have to considerably lengthen your trip or end up in places where you don't want to go. It also isn't as constant and/or reliable as a motor. But until a few hundred years ago wind was all we had, and there is no reason why you could not make a containership that is wind powered just like it used to be. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of hull that would be. When the wind is blowing, favorable direction or not and it exceeds your expectations you're going to find out that there is more energy in the wind than you are prepared to deal with. If you've ever been on a sailboat in a storm that is the last thing you would write.
- nradov 11mo ago
  Nonsense. Even if the wind is blowing the right direction it doesn't have enough energy to move a huge merchant vessel at economically viable speeds. Do you have any clue about the mass and drag involved with something like a 20000 TEU container ship? There is no magic hull shape which can ever make sail propulsion alone make sense. This is basic physics.
  - skylurk 11mo ago
    Those same 20000 TEU container ships are famously susceptible to being blown about by winds when they loose power. The stronger argument is that wind is not consistent or reliable enough for logistics. At least, not without doing a lot of extra math. So I agree that sail propulsion alone won't happen at large, but it's an interesting question of how far in that direction commercial shipping can go with modern technology.