Tires, cognac and sailboats, at least. The E.U. is calling for companies to reduce their carbon footprints so they are signing on with that in mind.5000 tons (10 million pounds) of high value cargo
Btw, I have solar electric auxillary propulsion on my sailboat
I have no issues with electric propulsion.It will increase due to inflation, and the fact that it is increasingly difficult to find or extract oil. Demand is high and supply is low and that is why oil is increasing in price as it is. I've never heard of an economist saying that the price of oil will fall ( maybe next year but not in several or ten years) in fact I only here them talk about how it will continue up to increase. You seem to be under the impression that this idea serves the purpose to compete against large cargo ships which it is not. Some cargo companies are experimenting with with new ways to run props using wind and solar and are becoming quite successful. This idea I'm thinking of, It is a way to tap a market and find a nich between companies that would like to transport their products under less carbon emissions. There is a market for it and I think it would be a worthwhile venture. Plus there are other materials to make reliable ropes and sails other than plastics made of oil.
Sorry, Dave, we try not to cross forum post
Btw, I have solar electric auxillary propulsion on my sailboat
My thought is that a traditional 70 ft schooner may have too small of a cargo capacity to be profitable.
Consider crewing costs. For a cargo vessel to be competitive on long range transport, ideally it would be carrying, loading or discharging cargo 24/7 or close to it. Say you can get away with 6 crew per rotation. $500 000/ year in crewing costs. Times 2, because most sailors are looking to work time on for time off these days. That puts your crewing costs at a million dollars a year? Give or take a few hundred thousand?
Say the buisiness is delivering supplies to island out stations in Alaska and BC (I see you posted this in the BC/ Alaska sub forum), you could probably get away with daylight only operations and only a single crew, but that still leaves you competing with small fast power boats carrying similar volumes with one or two crew at 2-4 times the speed
That's a good point to consider, but there are other options than paying $500000 per year. I used to work as a wildland firefighter after the millitary, I happily made 20k to 25k per fire season I'm sure there is a way not to get "cheap labor" but to find yound willing college kids looking to learn how to sail. Realistically, you only need one or two good sailors that can teach a crew. Fair transport charges for people to ride as a trainee. However, crewing costs are definitely a consideration. I am in the Alaska area and coastal trading is an idea to think about. Most people here get around on motor fishing boats. But I could be willing to go to where there may be more of a market. I. Sure some wealthy California's would love some alaskan goods shipped by sail... just saying. Yes there are lots of expenses and considerations price of a small crew. And what the ship can hold. I think 70 foot cargo sailing ship depending on build could carry 100 tons. Some ships twice as long are capable of carrying 400 to 500 tons. Thanks for sharing.Btw, I have solar electric auxillary propulsion on my sailboat
My thought is that a traditional 70 ft schooner may have too small of a cargo capacity to be profitable.
Consider crewing costs. For a cargo vessel to be competitive on long range transport, ideally it would be carrying, loading or discharging cargo 24/7 or close to it. Say you can get away with 6 crew per rotation. $500 000/ year in crewing costs. Times 2, because most sailors are looking to work time on for time off these days. That puts your crewing costs at a million dollars a year? Give or take a few hundred thousand?
Say the buisiness is delivering supplies to island out stations in Alaska and BC (I see you posted this in the BC/ Alaska sub forum), you could probably get away with daylight only operations and only a single crew, but that still leaves you competing with small fast power boats carrying similar volumes with one or two crew at 2-4 times the speed
woodenships.co.uk
salyachts.com
www.classic-yachtsforsale.com
Let
hey! it's an idea. worst case scenario I take on my two skilled brothers my sister or some volunteers and we go for a Pacific sail! as long as I make enough through trade to upkeep the ship and pay into a refit fund then I'm doing good! not trying to be a millionaire here just looking at an alternative lifestyle. Im aiming to be a pilot with the millitary and when I get out I may take this on as a side project, go fly and fight some wildfires during the fire season and head down to conduct trade off my little schooner in the south pacific or the carribean. Hell, possibilities are endless with determination and willingness to action. Could even see if sail cargo or current successful sail cargo companies would hire or subcontract my ship on occasion to run a transatlantic route. They have the routs and volunteers I would have a sailing vessel... ideas. ideas. ideas.
Could you email that thread, I was reading through it and the guy had the exact same idea. I think the administrator took it down. My email is [email protected]
Thank you for posting that. I knew ships were efficient but I never would have guessed that they were that much more efficient than rail. I don't know if this is still true but one of the efficiencies that diesel powered ships used to have is that they burned Bunker C, and that saved the energy losses and carbon footprint of refinement.
Must be the friction of the wheels on the freight cars compared to the drag on a ship's hull. A ship can probably carry many trains' worth of cargo. It would help to understand the methodology of the comparison too, though. The article in WoodenBoat this month describes some of the assumptions about carbon footprint made in the construction of a pinasse. These obviously have effects on the results.
Rail vs. Shipping isn't really an apples to apples comparison. Since they serve different markets, head to head comparisons between railroads and cargo carriers are not very illuminating. The traffic carried by ships cannot be diverted to rail, or vice versa.Here is an article to consider. It discusses the relative efficiency of different freight transportation methods.
It points out that shipping is already a very low carbon footprint way to move goods and these figures are using mostly diesel powered ships, a lot of modern ships are going with LNG propulsion which has an even lower carbon footprint.
It gives some rough numbers suggesting current ship efficiency from a carbon footprint perspective is roughly twice as efficient as rail, 5 times more efficient than truck and 50 times as efficient as air freight.
The future of freight: More shipping, less emissions? | Greenbiz
With 47,000 ships and 3 million trucks transporting goods around the world, opportunities to reduce our impact abound.www.greenbiz.com
I applaud the OP having a dream on the water, although, it sounds like there is insufficient capital to give it a go and it does seem like a stretch to be viable. A shoestring, family run, single cargo carrier isn't going to be very reliable, let alone likely profitable. It's described as a very small carrier, which would be inefficient. Sailing isn't free. The sails for a vessel of this size will cost tens of thousands of dollars, plus running and standing rigging, and wear out far more often that a weekend warrior's. Down for repairs is one thing, but I'll bet it won't be that much cheaper to operate per mile than a slow displacement diesel barge, when you factor in the life cycle of the sailing bits.
St Lawrence Seaway? Rail Lines run parallel to the whole thing.
