The world’s largest wind-powered cargo ship just made its first delivery across the Atlantic

A French startup is bringing sails back to the shipping industry.

When a new cargo ship set sail from France to New York last month, loaded with hundreds of pallets of champagne, wine, and cognac, it was the first time in nearly a century that a large cargo ship crossed the Atlantic powered almost entirely by the wind.

The French startup that designed the ship, called TOWT (TransOceanic Wind Transport), argues that sailing cargo ships can viably compete with container ships running on fossil fuels.

This isn’t a traditional sailing ship

The company’s first vessel, called Anemos, is very different from a traditional sailing ship. It takes some inspiration from sailboats used in racing. First, the masts are made from carbon fiber. That makes them so lightweight that they can be much taller than the traditional version made from wood. The extra height means that they can hold up sails that are around twice as large, and catch more wind.

The sails are deployed with a mechanized system rather than sailors working by hand. “You could actually handle the whole rigging—the seven sails on board, and 3,000 square meters of sail—with just one remote control,” says Le Grand. At around 265 feet long, the vessel is a little bigger than the Cutty Sark, the famous British clipper ship. But while the Cutty Sark had 48 sailors, Anemos has just seven.