Kite pulls ship across Atlantic

摘要

Germany's skysails and Beluga Shipping are now testing the concept of partially powering a cargo vessel using a giant kite (see SM, April 2006). The multi-purpose heavylift vessel Beluga SkySails left the port of Bremerhaven for Guanta in Venezuela during mid-January equipped with a computer-controlled kite measuring 160m~2, which the ship's owners are hoping will cut fuel consumption by as much as 20 per cent and also reduce carbon dioxide emissions.