Sugar by sailing ship from South America

Almost all the goods that PRONATEC transports to Europe from overseas travel in containers by cargo ship. Container transports are highly efficient, and nowadays a single ship can transport over 10,000 containers at once. Per kilogramme of end product, the price and the environmental impact of these transports are both exceptionally low.

However, the sheer mass of containers transported means that freight shipping causes considerable environmental pollution. The most significant factor is the propulsion system. The engines, most of which run on heavy fuel oil, emit huge amounts of soot and fine dust and, of course, the greenhouse gas CO₂. Lost containers and waste disposed of at sea contribute to the pollution of the sea with plastic particles. The ballast water tanks contain invasive animal and plant species which are thus distributed around the globe. Solutions are now available for most of these environmental problems. More efficient engines, fine particle filters, waste management systems and so on. However, these are costly and can often be implemented only to a limited extent on existing ships. However, international cargo shipping is currently suffering from a major price war. For many destinations, it is cheaper to transport a 20-tonne container than to pay for a flight for one person. This means that the shipping companies often lack the money for major investments in this area.

In this context, several ideas have been put forward of ways in which shipping could again make increasing use of wind power: These range from paraglider-like kites that can be hung in front of a ship when the wind is favourable, to regular freight-container sailing ships. To date, however, only a small number is in operation.

There are a few brave "Gaulish villages" in the picture. One of these is Fairtransport shipping. This shipping company has two sailing freighters which they use as cargo ships. Their larger ship, the two-mast, 32-metre brigantine called ‘Tres Hombres’, completed a transatlantic voyage this winter. As part of a test run, PRONATEC had one tonne of SUCANAT whole cane sugar from our Colombian supplier, Molienda Real, carried on board. Abundant rum from the Caribbean and a tonne of cocoa beans for La Flor, a chocolatier from Zurich, were also part of the cargo.

Apart from administrative hurdles, the journey went more or less to plan. The crew was able to leave the Caribbean for Europe early enough to avoid the major consequences of the Corona pandemic. They also dispensed with a stopover in the Azores because of quarantine measures. When the ship had to fight against unfavourable winds in the English Channel, food on board became scarce. Finally, however, everyone arrived safely at the port of destination, Amsterdam. The end of the journey even had a touch of kitsch about it: On the very last leg of the trip, a dolphin befriended this wooden craft and her likeable crew. It even followed the ship through the lock to her harbour berth.

PRONATEC is delighted to help with this project, which we see as a way of supporting sustainable freight shipping. We are looking forward to the next shipment