Sailing Ships

For most of the maritime history of the world, transport of goods and people over long distances was invariably by water. The oar and the sail for millennia were the only possible power for propelling ships and boats until the middle of the 19th Century. Then steamships powered by coal - and later oil - began to take over world trade. Even the tall and elegant clipper ships carrying tea from India and China to London or guano fertilizer from Chile around Cape Horn to Hamburg faded away and were obsolete by the beginning of the 20th Century.The great disadvantage of the sailing ship was that it was always at the mercy of the weather, either becalmed for weeks or driven by off-course by storms - resulting in ships arriving weeks late or sometimes lost for ever. As long as coal and oil were available cheaply, sailing ships had had their day. Some may have thought that a wonderfully romantic era had gone for ever! But how efficient and cheap the wind still is when blowing in the right direction!We are now entering a new period of history where slowly but inexorably the cost of energy – certainly in the form of oil – is rising. A few years ago we talked of crude oil at $11 per barrel. Today in December 2007, the price of a barrel of crude oil is $80 and some think it will reach $100/barrel soon. There are those who say that even where energy supply and demand are in balance, geopolitics will invariably cause political upsets and capacity limitations (at vulnerable refineries) so that uncertainty will now be ever-present. It is clear that if the price of oil were to go to $100 per barrel over the next few years, the impact on global economic growth would be dramatic. Some countries in the developing world would be unable to keep their peoples happy or secure.This essay however suggests that even if the global reliance on cheap oil to drive economic growth fades, there are many ways to combat the problem - by combining old technology with modern scientific advances. It is often forgotten that until the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th Century, technology required to sail a ship and navigate it from port-to-port over thousands of miles was quite as complicated as understanding a computer. A sailing ship was the most complex technology known to man until quite recently. We will then soon be forced to return to transporting cargos over long distances by using sailing ships again.This idea is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Weather patterns around the globe can be forecast with some accuracy by satellite, and course changes made to take advantage of wind speed and direction and to avoid storms. Computers can be programmed to plot a course that optimizes the course sailed and minimizes the risk and the distance covered. The bridge of my modern sailing ship would hum with computers, constantly receiving meteorological and satellite information, plotting exact positions.There is always the question of what happens if there is no wind or how to manœuvre quickly in and out of port under sail with a minimum of risk - in gale force winds or dead calms. The new style sailing ship would be equipped with two small diesel engines, one at the bow and the other at the stern, used only for turning, entering or leaving port, and  for those rare occasions of calm, bad weather, shallow water or avoiding other ships. For a very high proportion of any voyage, the motive power would always be the wind.We talk of “sails”. But the sails of a modern sailing ship would not be the spreading white canvass of the old days. Sails for the new sailing ship would be vanes, more like vertical aero-plane wings made of aluminum or titanium, which could be rotated mechanically for any wind direction. (We still would be unable to sail directly into the wind!)This combination of new sails, navigation by satellite and computer, and using small diesel motors would enable the new sailing vessel to keep up a high speed, which would minimize (fuel) costs and take advantage of weather patterns. The old Clipper ships were capable of speeds of 16 knots or more in ideal conditions, but were often driven off course or becalmed because the captain could not foresee the weather ahead. The new sailing vessel should be able to maintain high average speeds, be able to predict accurately voyage length and expected time of arrival at port.So although we may be drifting into difficult economic times as energy becomes more scarce and expensive, the new sailing ship is a solution to keeping world trade going in a way that avoids the cost of oil as a bunker fuel, and has the happy property of substantially reducing the pollution of the seas and air, a significant part of which comes from modern shipping burning oil.in future years, cruise liners also will carry sails and air traffic will become too expensive. We will then all return to a cleaner sea. Now is the time for serious forward thinking and planning. Governments and shipping lines must start to design and finance prototype sailing vessels, using all the most modern developments and technologies of the last 50 years. There is no need to be between the devil and the deep blue sea in planning energy futures!We do not need to build fleets! But I do suggest the time has come when a few prototype sailing ships should be constructed to prepare for a time when energy - in the form of bunker fuel  - will no long  be affordable.Perhaps in future years, cruise liners also will carry sails and air traffic will become too expensive. We will then all return to a cleaner sea. Now is the time for serious forward thinking and planning.