Navy Charters Kite Powered Cargo Ship to Deliver Equipment

The US Navy’s Military Sea Lift Command has chartered a “kite assisted”, fuel saving ship to deliver cargo from Europe to the US. The ship uses a paraglider shaped, SkySails system, which supplements its internal combustion engines.

The sail is basically a huge, computer-controlled kite that soars 30 — 90 metres into the air, using wind to tow the ship at the end of a long tear-proof synthetic rope. Fuel savings are expected to be about 20-30% or $1600 per day.

Original article: Mark Rutherford. CNet News. 11 October 2008. Read more…