Sail Cargo

Sail cargo is the movement of freight on vessels propelled wholly or partly by wind, spanning revived sailing cargo ships and modern wind-assisted ship propulsion retrofits. Pure sailing freighters carry small parcels at low speed for niche trades, while wind-assisted systems, Flettner rotors, suction wings, rigid wingsails, and kites, cut fuel on conventional ships by a documented 5 to 20 percent voyage-averaged depending on route and wind. The IMO recognizes wind propulsion as an innovative energy-efficiency technology in the EEDI, so installed thrust lowers the attained index. Wind is the only zero-fuel propulsion input, so its energy carries no well-to-wake carbon.