Slow boat to Amsterdam ships Caribbean cargo using sail power
The brigantine Tres Hombres is operating a sustainable shipping route between the Caribbean and Amsterdam, transporting goods like rum and coffee using only wind power. The project aims to highlight the environmental impact of traditional shipping, which contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Why it matters
It demonstrates a practical, low-emission alternative to industrial shipping, addressing the urgent need for sustainable logistics in global trade.
AMSTERDAM - Gliding into the port of Amsterdam under full sail with a booty of 40 tons of Caribbean rum, coffee and cocoa, the twin-masted Tres Hombres looks like something from the heyday of 17th-century piracy.But this 32-meter (105-feet) brigantine has a much nobler mission than the pirates of old: sustainable goods transport using the energy from wind captured in its sails."We have almost no emissions because we sail without an engine," said Sabine Fox, the 51-year-old boss of Fairtransport, the firm that operates the Tres Hombres.Every year the ship, whose name is inspired by the three men who founded Fairtransport in 2007, sails some 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) across the Atlantic, bringing goods from the Caribbean to Amsterdam."We choose products which are not produced in Europe because we didn't want to be in competition with local markets," Fox told AFP."How many things do we import from China that we…
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