• The Nantes-based company Neoline is launching the construction of its first cargo ship propelled mainly by sails.

  • The boat will make round trips between France, Canada and the United States.

  • Renault, Michelin, Manitou or Longchamp are among the customers.

“This is an extremely important moment of achievement for us.

After developing the project for eleven years, and having experienced great difficulty in securing financing, the Nantes-based company Neoline formalized on Wednesday the launch of the construction of its first sailing cargo ship.

Resolutely innovative, this 136 m long ship will be "mainly propelled by the wind", which will allow it to "reduce by 80 to 90%" its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, compared to a freighter of comparable size.

With one ambition: “to offer carbon-free, industrial and competitive transport services”.

“The project, at the start, did not fit into the boxes of maritime transport.

But many have subscribed to this vision of a responsible and desirable future,” rejoices Jean Zanuttini, CEO of Neoline.

Big customers already found

With a capacity of 190 containers (TEU), the boat will ensure 12 rotations per year between Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Halifax (Canada) and Baltimore (United States).

Its delivery is announced for mid-2025, but its main customers are already known: Renault (automotive), Manitou (handling machinery), Bénéteau (sailboats), Michelin (tyres), Jas Hennesy (Cognac), Rémy Cointreau (alcohol) , Longchamp (leather goods) or Clarins (cosmetics).

“Our commitments with the shippers guarantee us, for the moment, to fill the ship to 80% of its outward capacity.

The return is more complicated because there is an imbalance of flows between France and the United States.

But we have two years to develop profitability,” says Jean Zanuttini.


The Neoline cargo ship will be mainly built by the Turkish shipyard RMK Marine, from its site in Tuzla, near Istanbul.

The masts and the two giant sails in carbon fiber will however be made by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, according to the "Solid sail" model developed by the Saint-Nazaire manufacturer, in particular for two sailing liners ordered for 2026 and 2027. The masts will be foldable "so as to be able to pass under bridges".

"We really believe that there is a future for the sail propulsion of cargo ships", insists Laurent Castaing, CEO of Les Chantiers.

The French industrial group Neopolia, with which a letter of intent to order was signed in 2021, is no longer part of the project.

The challenge of punctuality despite the vagaries of the wind

The Saint-Nazaire-Baltimore transatlantic crossing is announced in 13 days, even in the event of a wind deficit.

"Punctuality is essential in our business," says Jean Zanuttini.

Ours will be at least equivalent to that of conventional ships.

We have modern technologies to get wind.

And if we can't find it, we have the joker of the engine, at a higher speed (16 knots against 11 knots on average with the sails).

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Neoline's first boat costs approximately 60 million euros.

CMA-CGM and Corsica ferries are among the main investors, as is Ademe Investissement.

The construction of at least two additional freighters is already being studied, as well as a future crossing to the Caribbean.



Neoline is not the only one to bet on the return of the transport of goods to sailing.

The Morlais residents of Grain de Sail have already launched a modern, much smaller cargo ship and completed three transatlantic races.

Another project, also more modest than Neoline, is carried out by another Breton company, Transoceanic Wind Transport (Towt), with a delivery target at the end of 2023.

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