TOWT takes delivery of second sailing cargo ship in series

French transport company TOWT took delivery of a new sailing cargo ship on Tuesday, August 20. Artemis is the second ship in a series that also includes Anemos, which was handed over to TOWT earlier this month and has since departed for New York City on its maiden operational voyage.

Whereas Anemos was built at Piriou's facilities in Romania in France, Artemis was constructed at the company's Vietnam shipyard. The vessel will soon depart on its own maiden voyage, transporting various cargo including tea and coffee via the Indian Ocean.

As with Anemos, Artemis has a length of 81 metres, a beam of 15 metres, and a height of 63 metres. Sails will provide all of the propulsive power needed by the vessel, while navigation will be aided by an autonomous routing system that utilises artificial intelligence and meteorological data.

The vessel also boasts wake energy recovery technology using dynamos and variable-pitch propellers. Piriou said the vessel's operations will enable greenhouse gas emissions of at least 93 per cent for CO2, 98 per cent for SOx, and 97 per cent of NOx.