Yesterday, the French shipping company Neoline held a naming ceremony in its registration port of Nantes for its first sail-powered Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) cargo ship.

As I write, Neoliner Origin, is heading down the Loire estuary* passing the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard at St. Nazaire where she got her two giant, self-furling, self-adjusting SolidSails that will power her.

Tomorrow, she sets off across the Atlantic with her first cargo, bound for Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Baltimore.

It’s not her first commercial operation. On her way, earlier this month, from her ship builders in Turkey, she stopped off in Corsica to load 315 new cars and unload them in Marseilles, before setting off for Nantes. She is designed to take rolling cargo (with wheels), shipping containers, oversize freight, or a mixture of all three types.

Neoline was established ten years ago, with a firm commitment to reducing carbon emissions at sea. The Neoliner ships (there are more planned) will use the wind as the primary propulsion, supplemented by engine power to meet commercial schedules. In time the engines will be de-carbonised to the point where there are zero carbon emissions.

The SolidSail system is fully automated. The sails auto-adjust to the point of sailing, auto-reef for wind conditions, auto-furl, and here’s the clever bit, they tilt down to reduce the height of the ship when it needs to get under bridges or other obstacles. Like most sailing vessels it also has a long keel, which can auto-twist to reduce sideways crabbing under sail, and withdraw into the hull to reduce the draught in shallow waters.

What market is Neoline serving? Neoline says it already has commitments from some major French brands such as Bénéteau, Renault group, Hennessy, Manitou, Clarins, Remy Cointreau, La Fournée Dorée, who want to address their corporate social responsibilities (CSR).

The regular monthly routes for Neoliner Origin will be from her home port in St Nazaire to…

• St-Pierre & Miquelon : 8-day round trip (2 ports of call per rotation)
• Baltimore : 13-day outward journey and 15-day return journey
• Halifax : 18 days outward and 10 days return

So why is a cargo ship of interest to Mechtravellers? Well here’s the good bit, Neolines will also carry passengers.

Details and booking here.

* The MarineTraffic app is a marvellous thing!