TOWT, for Transoceanic Wind Transport, is a very young shipping company founded by Guillaume Le Grand from Brest. For 10 years, she has been transporting goods across the Atlantic by chartering old traditional sailing ships. It has put old schooners, three-masters and old tuna boats back into service, and today it wants to step up a gear, with the construction of a cargo sailboat which will be delivered in the summer of 2023.
“Sailing is the only way to decarbonise maritime transport.”
Guillaume Le Grandto franceinfo
Currently, sea freight is dominated by giant container ships which crisscross the oceans but which pollute enormously. Maritime transport alone accounts for 7% of global oil consumption, and is estimated to emit around 940 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Today, the merchant navy is stepping back into the past and relying on sailing freighters to transport goods across the Atlantic.
Several companies have embarked on the adventure and Guillaume Le Grand left Douarnenez and his native Brittany to set up in Le Havre, from where he intends to ensure his future transatlantic connections.
“Currently, we are working on the transatlantic route with products such as coffee, cocoa, Azorean tea or rum”, explains the business manager who sees the sailing navy as a support for sustainable development. A “Transport à la voile-Anemos” label has even been put in place for all goods transported by sailboats chartered by the company. This label guarantees carbon-free navigation and provides customers with a travel number symbol of transparency.
TOWT also works a lot with Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, because these countries are very concerned about the issue of renewable energies. The Cémoi group also intends to offer high-end chocolate in a few months thanks to cocoa beans brought back from Côte d’Ivoire by sail.
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Guillaume Le Grand’s company has just signed a contract with a French shipyard for the construction of an 80-meter-long cargo sailboat that will save 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The ship, which should be launched in the summer of 2023, will be able to carry more than 1,000 tonnes of cargo at one time. With a cruising speed of 11 knots (around 20 km / hour), this future cargo sailboat will be able to compete with current container ships, assures Guillaume Le Grand.
The boats will be equipped with 3,000 square meters of sail and should be able to ensure the transatlantic in 10 days, which will save more than 70,000 tonnes of CO2. Currently several groups such as Cémoi (chocolate), Belco (coffee), or Longueteau (rum) are engaged in the adventure to transport or bring back products on five routes that the company is testing with virtual tools. The idea is to initially ensure 3 or 4 rotations per year between Le Havre, America and Africa. Each ship has an estimated cost of 10 million euros, and they will not transport containers but pallets or barrels considered more “eco-responsible”.