French Politics and Markets Cause Cancelation of Sail Boxship Order
French Firm Cancels Groundbreaking Eco-Friendly Ships Due to Political and Market Challenges
A big project to build five special ships that could run on both wind sails and methanol fuel has been canceled. The project was stopped because of problems in France’s politics and a drop in the shipping market. The company behind the project, Zéphyr & Borée, says they are still committed to making the ships and will keep looking for money to fund the idea.
Last week, the Hyundai Mipo Shipyard in South Korea shared the news that the order for these ships was canceled. The shipyard said it was canceled at the request of the company that ordered them. The five ships were worth almost $315 million, and the order had been placed in May 2023.
Zéphyr & Borée confirmed they withdrew the order for the ships. The ships were supposed to be a new type of “feeder” ship, which are smaller ships that carry cargo to bigger ones. These ships would have used a combination of wing-like sails and engines powered by methanol. The goal was to create some of the first ships that wouldn’t create harmful emissions. These ships were expected to be ready between 2025 and 2026.
The company explained that since July, they have had trouble finding public funding because of the political situation in France. French President Emmanuel Macron called for elections, but the country has not been able to form a stable government. This has made it hard for Zéphyr & Borée to get financial support from the French government. They hope that once things calm down in France, they will be able to move forward with the project.
In addition to political problems, the company also faced a drop in the shipping market. The shipping industry has slowed down since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zéphyr & Borée had planned to work with several companies to make the project happen and create a new shipping route across the Atlantic Ocean.
The plan was very ambitious and also included the idea of building more ships in the future to help the shipping industry reduce pollution. However, these ships are more expensive to build because they use new and advanced technology.
Even though this part of the project was canceled, Zéphyr & Borée was able to launch a test ship called Canopée. Canopée is a special cargo ship that carries parts for the European Space program. It recently visited the U.S. for the first time, docking at Port Canaveral, Florida. This ship, which uses sails in its design, has sparked a lot of interest and shows that the idea of using wind power for shipping could still have a future.
