The Slow(er) Boat To China
With oil prices reaching all-time highs, the shipping industry is looking at all options - including sailboats. It’s true. Reuters is reporting it. Seriously.
The world’s first commercial ship powered partly by a giant kite sets off on a maiden voyage from Bremen to Venezuela on Tuesday, in an experiment which inventor Stephan Wrage hopes can wipe 20 percent, or $1,600, from the ship’s daily fuel bill. he 10,000-tonne ‘MS Beluga SkySails’ — which will use a computer-guided kite to harness powerful ocean winds far above the surface and support the engine — combines modern technology with know-how that has been in use for millennia.


