Costa Rican Wooden Cargo Ship Takes Shape on Pacific Coast

Sailors have always explored the world and continue to explore how the world of sailing can contribute to a sustainable planet. Along the Costa Rican coast is another group of sailors looking to the past to help find a way forward. We heard the story of SailCargo while listening to Here and Now on KQED.

SailCargo Inc. is a crowdsourced startup building a wooden cargo ship in Punta Morales in Costa Rica’s Gulf of Nicoya. The group was started by co-founders John Porras and Lynx Guimond with a mission to “create a regenerative model within the maritime transport sector that fosters the development of thriving communities and ecosystems.” In short, they want to build a fleet of wooden ships that can carry cargo under wind power. They are currently building their first ship and pioneer of their “clean shipping movement,” Ceiba, a 150-ft (loa) three-masted topsail schooner. When operational, she will emit zero emissions by utilizing her traditional sails and accompanying auxiliary electric motors.

“Some people say that it’s an art piece,” says SailCargo employee Alejandra Terán.

The ship is designed to carry 250 tons of freight — the equivalent of nine standard shipping containers — and will transport “anything from coffee to cacao, to electric vehicles. Hopefully sustainable clients, but we can also ship tires or pineapples or whatever else,” Guimond tells Here and Now.

The project has been funded by private investors who share the organization’s vision of zero-emission shipping, and are supportive of their broader impact. SailCargo Inc. also operates a reforestation program under its nonprofit AstilleroVerde (Spanish for “Green Shipyard”) to replace all the timber used in the construction of Ceiba and offset the remaining construction and operational emissions of SailCargo Inc.

To get an operational vessel on the water sooner, the group has bought and launched Vega, a three-masted cargo barkentine built in Sweden in 1909 and rebuilt from 1993-2008.

Various other wind-powered cargo ships are already on the water, such as the schooner Apollonia that sails up and down New York’s Hudson River, and a handful of oceangoing cargo ships. But Steven Woods, a US-based sail-freight expert, tells Here and Now that SailCargo is the only company building a large wooden cargo schooner from scratch.

We’re interested to see the outcome and launch of Ceiba. You can learn more about the project at SailCargo Inc.