Asahi Shinbum reported on January 27, 2014 that a ship was ready for real shipping conditions and open to the media for the first ever high efficiency wind driven cargo ship.

The companies taking part were NYK – http://www.nyk.com/english/ – Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Oshima Shipbuilding – https://www.osy.co.jp/english/. Both were collaborating with the University of Tokyo.

The sails are made of “fiber-reinforced plastic” and harness the wind with their 20 foot and 8 meters wide span.

A great rendering of the sails on a cargo ship and the entire article are here: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/technology/AJ201401270001

The Owner of G20 News, Julien David has been working on an efficient submarine based container and specialized shipping idea. The idea would be to ship goods beneath the waves and away from storms above. Less containers lost at sea due to poorly tethered containers or rough waters. Not to mention piracy. So imagine as the winds howl above and storms and waves rage from cyclones or hurricanes, beneath the tumult is a submarine carrying goods along normal shipping channels.

G20 News would like to add to the University of Tokyo study to see if there were a retrofittable hard wing that could be rigged for existing cargo ships and whether or not there are filters or some helpful machinery that could be placed on the hull of the ships that could scrub, or otherwise clean the ocean as ships sail their typical channels.

Please let us know your thoughts.

– By Julien David

Asahi Shinbum, G20, G20 Member, Japan, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, Oshima Shipbuilding, University of Tokyo