Eco-Freaks Propose Bringing Back … Sailing Ships – Opinion

In their never-ending effort to prove Ecclesiastes spot-on, the eco-freaks’ fierce determination to save the world, whether it needs it or not, remains admirable for its sheer … well, something.

It has now reached out to “they that go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters.” While their latest bit of brilliancy won’t solve supply chain issues when the issue is a combination of a worker shortage and onerous port operation restrictions laid out by government-residing ecofreakos, it will blame everything squarely on seafaring transportation entities. You won’t be molesting Mother Gaia with fossil fuels, sir! We’ve got the perfect solution to scoot you and your containers full of consumer products made by the most acceptable Uyghur slave labor across the waves! It’s brand new! It’s never been tried before! It’ll revolutionize modern transportation! It’s called …

… a sail.

No. Really. They’ve reinvented the sail.

The industry’s quest for decarbonization includes the transport of ships by huge kites.

The Ville de Bordeaux is a ship measuring 154 meters in length that transports aircraft components for Airbus SE. It will be unfurling a kite of 500 square meters on its journeys across Europe. Before it can be fully deployed, the ship will go through six months of testing and trials.

That sound you’re hearing is Captain Jack Sparrow laughing his head off.

Making matters even more tragically comic, it’s not a proper sail or set of sails. These sails can be used to sail against the wind, provided you follow all instructions. No, it’s a glorified bedsheet. These bad guys are just as vulnerable to wind gusts as the Edmund Fitzgerald.

It’s not like the idea of augmenting those propellers under the water thingies with some directly applied wind power hasn’t been tried as of late. There are high-tech propulsion enhancement systems that use wind power such as Flettner’s rotor. The problem is that they don’t work very well. That’s being nice about it.

No need to laugh, but the idea of saving money on fuel for cargo ships has always been a priority of shipbuilders and transport carriers since at least the beginning of the 20th century. Ideal cargo ships would be large in container size, stable, fast, and have the ability to move quickly. And be as efficient to operate as possible. Also, try to produce the least amount of pollution possible. Which propulsion technique offers all of these?

Greta Thunberg can also tow cargo ships along with her yacht.