Zero emissions cargo shipping — the old-fashioned way

It’s as if I am chatting to a merchant on a European dockside more than a century ago when I ask Jorne Langelaan, founder and CEO of Dutch shipping startup EcoClipper, how his vessel’s maiden voyage is going.

“In the beginning the winds were really favourable,” he says of the progress made by the 1912-built De Tukker, which recently embarked on a regular sailing schedule taking it to ports around Europe. Chocolate, olive oil and wine are among its first items of cargo.

On the way from The Netherlands to Portugal, like many thousands of mariners in centuries gone by, De Tukker’s crew had to sail close to Atlantic winds in order to progress south past the west coast of France.

“Otherwise,” says Langelaan, “You can easily be pulled into the Bay of Biscay with the currents there and the prevailing winds.” EcoClipper, which has five employees on shore and five crew members, has raised around €1 million in funding to date, half of which consists of loans.

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