Despite signing a contract worth $311 million in May 2023 with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, a South Korean shipyard, French startup Zéphyr & Borée has decided to cancel the order for five innovative container ships.
The reason for the cancellation was a funding problem. The cost of each vessel equipped with rotor sails, which were intended to be an environmentally friendly solution for maritime transport, was estimated at $62.2 million, significantly higher than the cost of standard container ships.
Zéphyr & Borée's design incorporated rotor sails capable of reducing CO2 emissions by 80% and operation on methanol. The container ships were intended to be 160 meters long and have a capacity of 1,300 TEU.
Delivery of the vessels was scheduled from the end of May 2025 to June 2026.
The cancellation of the order was a major setback for Zéphyr & Borée's ambitious project, which had already proven its capabilities with the development of the world's first sail-powered ro-ro rocket launcher, "Canopée", currently operating successfully for the French aerospace company ArianeGroup.
Despite the setback with the container ships, Zéphyr & Borée continues to work on developing innovative technologies capable of making maritime transport more environmentally friendly.
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