Introduction and Overview › Glossary for the Networking Language · 7 min read
Sailship transport refers to the transportation of goods using cargo sailing ships.
This does not mean small recreational boats or yachts, but rather commercial vessels that are built, converted, or brought back into use for transporting freight.
They move goods across the sea, utilizing wind as their primary driving force.
For us at TEIKEI, sailship transport is particularly relevant for goods that need to be moved over longer distances, such as olive oil from Greece or other staple foods from European regional partner regions.
Sailship transport is a form of maritime logistics.
It connects old shipping traditions with today’s questions:
Sailship transport is therefore not just a technical topic. It also touches on questions of climate, responsibility, time, costs, quantity planning, infrastructure, and relationships.
Sailship transport easily evokes a romantic image: a sailboat, wind, sea, and a beautiful story. But for supply chains, what matters is this: It’s not about a small yacht. It’s about cargo sailing ships.
These ships require:
A sailship transport can only function if enough freight is bundled and the downstream distribution is prepared.
At TEIKEI, we work on a supply system where the flow of goods, money, and responsibility become visible.
Sailship transport fits this approach because the transport itself becomes part of the shared perception again.
The goods don’t just appear in the warehouse—their journey becomes visible.
This makes it clear:
In this way, sailship transport can help make the invisible logistics behind food understandable again.
The Avontuur is a cargo sailing ship operated by the Timbercoast shipping company.
It is a two-masted gaff schooner built in the Netherlands in 1920.
The Avontuur represents the "Cargo under Sail" approach: transporting freight under sail.
It demonstrates that sailship transport should not only be seen as a nostalgic reminder of earlier times but as a concrete option for today’s goods flows.
Further reading:
For TEIKEI Olive, sailship transport is particularly interesting because olive oil does not need to be transported fresh daily.
Olive oil is storable. This makes it more suitable for planned, bundled, and slower transport routes than highly perishable fresh products.
A sailship transport between Greece and a European port can become viable when sufficient quantities are pooled and the route is logistically prepared.
This includes:
Sailship transport is therefore not just a transport decision. It requires a robust structure in the background.
Worldwide, several projects demonstrate that transporting freight under sail is being practically tested again.
These projects vary greatly in size, route, business model, and stage of development.
However, they share a common fundamental question: How can freight be moved across the sea without being entirely dependent on fossil-fueled shipping?
The Tres Hombres is a cargo sailing ship operated by Fairtransport.
Described as a motorless brigantine, it transports goods such as rum, cocoa, coffee, and olive oil.
The Tres Hombres represents a very consistent form of sail freight, as it covers long distances exclusively using wind power.
Further reading:
The SV Brigantes is a historic ship being restored for sail freight.
Built in 1911, it is intended to transport goods like coffee, rum, and cocoa between the Americas and Europe using wind power.
The Brigantes shows that reviving old cargo ships is part of the new sail freight movement.
Further reading:
The Ceiba is a cargo sailing ship project by SAILCARGO Inc. in Costa Rica.
The project is building a large wooden cargo sailing ship designed to transport goods using wind power.
The Ceiba is particularly interesting because it is not just reactivating an old ship.
A new cargo sailing ship is being built from wood, combined with a shipyard structure, training, local labor, and a commitment to clean shipping.
Further reading:
Grain de Sail is a French company that combines sail freight with food products.
The company transports raw materials for coffee and chocolate using its own cargo sailing ships.
With Grain de Sail III, a large modern cargo sailing ship is planned, aiming to significantly expand sail freight.
Further reading:
EcoClipper is working on the development of modern sail freight.
The project aims to retrofit existing ships and develop new cargo sailing ships for deep-sea routes.
EcoClipper demonstrates that sail freight does not have to consist only of individual historic ships but can also be envisioned as a future fleet structure.
Further reading:
New Dawn Traders collaborates with cargo sailing ships to move goods across the Atlantic and along European coasts.
The project connects trade, small producers, cargo sailing ships, and conscious procurement.
Further reading:
Fair Winds Collective is a network for sustainable sailing projects, sail freight, education, and science.
Such networks are important because sailship transport requires more than just individual ships.
It needs ports, contacts, training, visibility, collaboration, and transshipment points.
Further reading:
Sailship transport can open up several opportunities:
Especially for storable food products, sailship transport can become a meaningful component.
Sailship transport is not automatically simple. It has clear limitations:
Therefore, sailship transport requires good preparation.
It does not work as a spontaneous add-on idea but as part of a planned supply structure.
For sailship transport to be viable, sufficient quantities are needed.
A single small goods share is not enough.
Only when enough harvest shares, containers, or pallets are bundled can a ship be used economically and ecologically.
Therefore, sailship transport is closely linked to sustainable transport units.
The central question is: What quantity must be collectively supported to enable a lower-emission transport route?
For us at TEIKEI, sailship transport is not a romantic add-on—it is a potential building block for a different kind of logistics.
Our goal is not to transport every good by sailship. We want to plan transports differently where it makes sense:
Sailship transport can help understand logistics itself as part of the supply chain again.
Sailship transport means transporting freight with commercial sailing ships.
It is not about small yachts but about real cargo sailing ships with professional crews, loading capacity, route planning, and port logistics.
Projects like Avontuur, Tres Hombres, Brigantes, Ceiba, Grain de Sail, and EcoClipper show that sail freight is being practically tested and further developed again.
For TEIKEI, sailship transport can become important where storable food products, sufficient quantities, and collectively supported logistics come together.
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By the TEIKEI editorial team, with support from AI (ChatGPT)
Created on May 19, 2026 · Last updated on October 10, 2026
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