A Costa Rican start-up is aiming to take a small step towards sustainability with a new cargo sailing ship.
SailCargo has set up a shipyard in Punta Morales to construct the Ceiba by late 2021.
The vessel will use canvas sails and an electric engine with lithium-ion batteries.
Wide participation
Work is taking place thanks to local workers, visiting volunteers and international investors.
Even the timber comes from sustainably harvested and naturally fallen tamarind and other hardwoods.
The company is planting thousands of trees to produce future supplies for more ships.
It wants to turn a profit one day by carrying spices, cotton, cacao and other cargo on a fleet of wooden ships.
“We want to show that, from its inception, something can be completely regenerative and carbon neutral,” said Danielle Doggett, SailCargo’s co-founder and executive director.
Net zero carbon
Costa Rica has become a pioneer of green technology after president Carlos Alvarado adopted a plan to decarbonise the economy by 2050, promising to achieve net zero emissions.
The Ceiba’s design was inspired by the 1907 Scandinavian ship Ingrid, which operated in the era of steamships and diesel engines.
The company said the vessel will carry 250 tons or 350-plus CBM of cargo.
This is equal to about nine standard shipping containers, which may seem a drop in the ocean, as it were, compared to a 22,000-teu mega-ship, but each journey starts with a single step.
