Edouard Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre, reportedly paid a visit to Piriou’s X51 Nha May shipyard in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, last week to examine how the first of the company’s two new sailing cargo ships was coming together, as reported by Bunker Spot.
Transoceanic logistics solution
The CEO and President of TOWT, Guillaume Le Grand, and the French Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser, accompanied Philippe on the site visit last Wednesday (15 February).
The Mayor’s visit was significant, according to TOWT, as Le Havre will serve as the new ship’s home port.
The company hopes that its two new sailing cargo ships will provide ‘a unique transoceanic logistics solution with huge capacity, which is drastically low-carbon and lucrative,’ as was previously reported.
In whines and spirits
“Edouard Philippe’s visit is an honour and a privilege, a true recognition of the work of a 100% Le Havre-based enterprise,” Le Grand said. His presence shows that TOWT’s developing fleet has solid backing. For the City of Le Havre, which is prepared to meet climate challenges and is a pioneer in its commitment to a highly decarbonized maritime transport, we all hold out great hope for progress and share ambitious ambitions.
The new ship is a schooner of the Phoenix class with an aluminium superstructure and a steel hull. Towt expects that it will be able to reduce CO2 by 90% when compared to an equivalent conventional ship because its primary form of propulsion will be a sail.
The 81-meter-long ship can carry 1,100 tonnes in bulk pallets and 135 barrels at a maximum speed of 20 knots under sail (in wines and spirits).
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Source: Bunker Spot
