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I found this article about towing kites by accident, but it's what I was expecting, since I knew Skysails was starting to test there computer controlled units on larger ships. The Navy Goes Green "The first kite-assisted cargo ship, the MV Beluga SkySails, chartered by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, arrived in the U.S. in November 2008. The 400-foot ship, carrying U.S. military equipment, uses an enormous computer-controlled kite that acts as a giant skysail, generating fuel savings of up to 30 percent a day. Kites on cargo ships are still somewhat in there infancy. The Beluga SkySails' maiden Atlantic crossing using technology were completed only last March, when she sailed from Germany to Venezuela, then from the U.S. to Norway. The kite was flown up to eight hours a day on those crossings, and estimated fuel savings ranged from $1,600 to $2,000 a day, according to the German-based shipping group, Beluga, which hopes to implement a sail twice the size of the current one to further cut fuel cost, and reduce carbon emissions." ~ Ann Dermody Boat U.S. Magazine January 2009 Regards, Szybowski |