this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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A cargo ship with 123-foot ‘WindWing’ sails has just departed on its maiden voyage (www.popsci.com)
submitted 1 year ago by L4s to c/technology
22 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A cargo ship with 123-foot ‘WindWing’ sails has just departed on its maiden voyage::Retrofitted with 123-foot ‘WindWings,' 'Pyxis Ocean' is testing two giant sails on its six-week journey from China to Brazil.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago (4 children)

We've made a full circle, haven't we?

[–] XeroxCool 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sails fell out of favor because when people order something, they want it immediately. Sailing was too inconsistent and petroleum became too cheap. There's still a huge shipping market for overnight intercontinental flights for companies who can't wait. I'm happy to introduce hybrid propulsion systems to try to make a dent, but we can't pretend it's an altruistic effort. We can't pretend customer demand is why these ships are so dirty in the first place, either.

[–] Tar_alcaran 20 points 1 year ago

Traditional sails are also fragile, complex, expensive and very labour intensive even with electric winches. A fully rigged ship is exceptionally complicated and knowing how to work one takes huge skill and knowledge, and that's not even mentioning what to do when something goes wrong. And of course, it's much slower as well.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sails fell out of favor because when people order something, they want it immediately. Sailing was too inconsistent and petroleum became too cheap

You say that like sailing was replaced with modern cargo ships. Sailing was replaced by coal steamers over a century ago. Same-day delivery had nothing to do with it.

[–] XeroxCool 2 points 1 year ago

OK, replace "petroleum" with "fossil fuel engines" and then replace "overnight" with "as fast as technologically possible at whatever time period you wish to examine in which powered transport was faster and more consistent than sailing ships" and the rest stands all the same

[–] Dasnap 7 points 1 year ago

"Man invents sail."

[–] bfg9k 2 points 1 year ago

We'll see hitching posts start making a comeback soon

[–] rigatti 2 points 1 year ago

Not a great way to get to your destination.