Clippership completes project for a wind-powered cargo ship

Clippership, a company specialising in the development of autonomous wind-powered vessels, announced the completion of the design of its first 24-metre vessel and the signing of a construction contract with Dutch shipyard Km Yachtbuilders to build its first cargo ship.

The ship, explain the technicians of Rina, the certification and classification society that screened and approved the design, "is equipped with two foldable rigid wings that provide wind propulsion and is designed to operate fully autonomously in the open sea, thanks to advanced route planning and optimisation systems based on weather conditions".

The unit has a cargo capacity of up to 75 europallets inside an air-conditioned cargo hold. It will be built in accordance with Rina regulations, with the aim of achieving classification as a general cargo powered sailing ship and the additional class notation Waps (Wind assisted propulsion system). The ship will fly the Maltese flag and is scheduled to be launched at the end of 2026, with commercial operations commencing on pilot routes between the Atlantic, the Caribbean and South America.

The naval architecture of the new vessel was developed by Dykstra naval architects, a firm known for innovative yacht designs such as Maltese Falcon, Sy Black Pearl and Sea Eagle. Glosten, an American naval engineering and architecture company (based in Seattle), was responsible for the structural engineering and auxiliary propulsion systems. The construction, as mentioned, will be entrusted to Km Yachtbuilders in the Netherlands, a shipyard known for building expedition vessels, including the Bestevaer, Pelagic and Quilak series. The range software and rigid wing design are developed by Clippership itself.