Neoliner 136m HD

The NEOLINER project

The maritime transport, as an essential link in a globalised market economy, is bound to offer a more modern concept of transport to meet the challenges of the coming decades which will see the inevitable increase in the oil price along with an announced shortage of the resource, stricter regulations on pollutant emissions and greenhouse gases as well as the consideration of the transport mode in companies’ carbon equation.

Based on an innovative and reliable technology, NEOLINE provides an immediately operational, sustainable and profitable solution for shippers.

Explore
NEOLINE coucher de soleil

The Challenges

In a highly competitive globalized trading market the maritime transport is more and more confronted with  accelerating environmental and regulatory requirements  and must therefore make unprecedented efforts to adapt its operating methods.

Maritime transport, which alone accounts for 7% of the world oil consumption, is particularly concerned with reducing polluting and greenhouse gas emissions, especially since the fuels used to date are highly polluting, particularly because of their sulphur dioxide (SOX) content.

In order to match this challenge, the international players in conventional maritime transport have undertaken to reduce CO2 emissions from the industry by 50% before 2050. More immediately, they have to comply, since 1st January 2020, with a reduction in the sulphur content of bunkers from 3.5% down to 0.5%.

With this new standard combined with the increase in oil prices, shipowners expect an exceptional increase in their bunker budget. As for ship technical solutions (gigantism, slow steaming, scrubbers, LNG, etc.), they are costly and  remain limited and can even generate new forms of pollution  in some cases.

In this context, NEOLINE’s solution of using wind propulsion, based on the exploitation of inexhaustible and clean energy does make sense.

 

Thanks to the main sail propulsion, NEOLINE is moving towards zero emission transport while providing cost stability.

NEOLINE Voiles

Our vision

Sailing propulsion, enhanced by 21st century technologies, is an efficient and immediately available response to the need to adapt maritime transport to a profoundly changing context.

NEOLINE has made the strategic choice of sailing propulsion, based on the one hand on the exploitation of inexhaustible, free and clean energy, and on the other hand on proven technology, which today benefits from considerable advances in terms of performance and flexibility of use.

This mode of propulsion combined with a reduction in operating speed (a general trend in the world of shipping) at 11 knots, as planned by NEOLINE, allows to reduce the energy needed by half.

An optimized control of the energy mix and a successful meteorological routing practice: this combination designed and implemented by NEOLINE drastically reduces the consumption of fossil fuels and associated emissions, while ensuring a regular service.

As for the use of mechanical propulsion and complementary conventional energies to secure commercial speed, ensure port manoeuvres and produce electricity on board, the NEOLINE project plans to replace them with renewable energies in the long term, thus moving towards zero emission transport.

Our ambition

Our ambition

After a first generation of pilot project ships, we want to design, in cooperation with our partner shippers, larger vessels that will gradually reach zero emission, adapted to new freight and trade lanes.

To achieve its vision, NEOLINE plans to start by operating pilot project vessels in the North Atlantic  which will save between 80% and 90% of bunker consumption while ensuring a competitive and efficient service.

By 2030, NEOLINE plans to go even further by offering a wider range of maritime transport solutions that will be able to meet as many needs as possible.

Together with its partners, NEOLINE is sketching out this second generation of ships, with a transport capacity on a mass transport scale so that the technologies and know-how developed can be adapted to as many shipping sectors and geographical services as possible.

Our partners

TECHNICALS PARTNERS

To ensure the success of the project, NEOLINE has brought together an ecosystem of partners who are experts in their fields.

RMK MARINE, a Turkish shipyard based in Tuzla, is in charge of building the first Neoliner

Chantiers de l’Atlantique is developing the innovative AeolDrive/Solidsail technology chosen as the main propulsion for the first Neoline vessel.

logo MAURIC

As a subsidiary of the ECA group, Bureau MAURIC is in charge of the engineering of our pilot project ships.

logo D-ICE ENGINEERING

A company based in Nantes specialising in digital naval applications, D-Ice carries out operational and weather routing simulations for our future vessels.

Designer and supplier of anti-drift plans based in Le Havre.

ABC is the supplier of the auxiliary propulsion system.

logo SOGEBRAS

Shipping agency services related to transport, logistics and port operations in Nantes Saint-Nazaire Montoir.

Main interlocutor for handling and stevedoring services at the Ro-Ro terminal of the Port of Nantes Saint Nazaire.

Labels & Support

Our project is supported by Atlanpole and obtained a co-labelling in October 2017, from:

logo EMC2
logo Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique

INVESTORS

They trust us and took part in the funding of our project:

logo BPI FRANCE
logo Pays de la Loire
Crédit Photo : Port de Nantes/Saint Nazaire/ Franck Badaire

Shippers Partners

NEOLINE builds its commercial offering on solid and economically viable foundations, which have already convinced major French industrial groups.

These shippers partners are committed as of 2018 with NEOLINE to cleaner shipping, in an ambitious corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach. Aware of the environmental, social and ethical challenges of their activities, they are determined actors in the energy transition of their supply chain and transport logistics.

NEOLINE develops tailor-made solutions for its partners that are part of their environmental strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of their supply chain.

The RENAULT Group, a pioneer among these active shippers, has found in NEOLINE a partner capable of contributing to the ambition of its environmental strategy to reduce its carbon footprint by 25% between 2010 and 2022, with a target of 6% for its supply chain compared to 2016.

A 3-year RENAULT-NEOLINE GROUP partnership was signed in autumn 2018 to support a clean maritime transport solution using wind propulsion, thus contributing to the environmental management of the group’s supply chain.

Jean-Philippe HERMINE Groupe RENAULT
Jean-Philippe Hermine - Director of the RENAULT Group's Environmental Strategy and Plan
« As part of our R&D strategy to explore new sustainable mobility solutions and support the trajectory of reducing our carbon footprint by -25% by 2022, the solution designed by NEOLINE, combining energy saving and operational relevance, has clearly drawn our attention”. »

As the world’s leading player in the nautical industries and European leader in leisure housing, Groupe Beneteau has developed unique skills and know-how. With an international industrial presence and a global sales network, the Group has a workforce of 7,400 employees.

Groupe Beneteau exports nearly 80% of the boats built in Europe. A large part of its exports are to the United States, with the North American market accounting for nearly 30% of its turnover. The exceptional dimensions of its vessels and the need to preserve their quality at each stage of transport make this flow a real logistical challenge.

Magdeleine Allaume - Beneteau
Magdeleine ALLAUME - Groupe Beneteau Procurement and Supply Chain Director
« NEOLINE offers a tailor-made solution, ecologically and economically relevant for Groupe Beneteau’s transatlantic flows, with a load as close as possible to our sites. As the world’s leading manufacturer of pleasure yachts, the use of sailing in the world of maritime transport seemed obvious to us, skilfully implemented by the NEOLINE project. »

Manitou Group, a world reference in the handling, aerial work platform and earth moving sectors, designs, produces, distributes and services equipment for the construction, the agriculture and the industries.

 

Already rewarded several times for its active approach to reducing emissions, Manitou Group has found in the transport solution developed by NEOLINE, a logistics service offer adapted to its specific transport needs, and capable of significantly contributing to the reduction of its carbon footprint while supporting the group’s international growth.

david bechemilh manitou
David Bechemilh - David Bechemilh - Transport & Customs Group Manager at Manitou Group
« It is essential for Manitou Group to be able to access efficient and responsible transport solutions. NEOLINE’s proposal is fully in line with our operational needs and our ambitious low-carbon pathway set up in 2022. Reducing sea freight emissions is one of the objectives of the transport roadmap for the group. With this service, we will maintain similar delivery times while optimizing pre-routing from our plants in the Grand Ouest to the port of Nantes – Saint-Nazaire. »

The world leader in cognac, Jas Hennessy & Co has been spreading its exceptional expertise around the world for more than 250 years. The flagship of the LVMH Group, Jas Hennessy & Co is a major contributor to French foreign trade. The brand is present in more than 160 countries, exports 99% of its production, primarily by sea to the North American market, and contributes to France’s international reputation.

Jas Hennessy & Co has long been committed to a global approach to reduce its impact on the environment and biodiversity and favors sustainable operating methods and the most virtuous modes of transportation.

Mathieu Testud, Directeur Supply Chain Jas Hennessy & Co
Mathieu Testud - Supply Chain Director, Jas Hennessy & Co
« The collaboration with NEOLINE allows us to take a new step forward in terms of sustainable transport: each year 4 million bottles (containerized) will be transported by sailboat to the USA, the leading market for Hennessy Cognac. This innovative mode of transport will supplement our historic shipping system by sea and rail (94% of Jas Hennessy & Co.’s transport modes, with road representing 5% and air transport less than 1%). »

Michelin is a world leader in tire manufacturing and aims to improve its customers’ mobility in a sustainable way.
Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Michelin is present in 170 countries, employs more than 127,000 people and operates 69 tire plants that together produced approximately 200 million tires in 2019.

Also a leader in the mobility sector, Michelin develops services and solutions to improve transportation efficiency as well as high-tech materials for a wide range of applications.
All Michelin Group sites have set an ambitious goal of zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

Pierre-Martin Huet
Pierre-Martin Huet - Head of Group Michelin’ Supply Chain
« At Michelin, we are convinced that our sustainable strategy is essential to meet today’s challenges and create a better path for tomorrow. And with NEOLINE, Michelin is moving from ambition to action. This initiative, which promotes innovation around carbon-free transportation, is fully in line with the company’s CSR – Supply Chain strategy and will actively contribute to achieving the objective of reducing CO2 emissions by 15% in absolute terms between 2018 and 2030. »

Clarins SAS is a French family-owned company specialized in beauty. With two strong brands, CLARINS and MY BLEND, we offer differentiating products and services. Present in more than 150 countries through our 28 subsidiaries, we employ over 8,500 people. Although 90% of our products are exported, we continue to produce and develop the majority of our products in France.

We are proud of our heritage, which combines entrepreneurial spirit, agility and curiosity, and are committed to promoting responsible beauty in order to ensure that our actions are sustainable.  Our CSR mission ClarinsWeCare covers all the group’s activities. It is based on two principles: caring for people and caring for the planet. It meets the requirements of our raison d’être: “To make life more beautiful, to transmit a more beautiful world.

Yann Le Gouic
Yann Le Gouic - Clarins' International Transport and Logistic Manager
« At Clarins, taking care of the planet is an integral part of the company philosophy, a moment-to-moment mindset. The Group commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025 involves sustainable procurement, particularly in terms of transport. Everyone of us is educated and trained for this. Neoline innovative and carbon-free solution perfectly meets our responsible objectives, values and logistic needs. It will perfectly fit  into our sea shipping system to our American subsidiary. This is the beginning of a new era for a more environmentally friendly sea freight. We are proud to be change makers  by their side and thus contribute to making life more beautiful, passing on a more beautiful planet. »

Authenticity, sincerity, energy, optimism are the values that remain at the heart of Longchamp. Since 1948, Longchamp, the leather-sheathed pipe manufacturer, has expanded its offering to include travel accessories, handbags, ready to wear, eyewear and shoes to deliver a global lifestyle to its customers. Today, Artistic Director, Sophie Delafontaine perpetuates this heritage and develops her vision of the authentic Parisian woman. Her style is fluid, natural, with “joie de vivre” for a contemporary and cosmopolitan customer. Longchamp reinvents French elegance with a twist.

Convinced that sustainability is an important component of manufacturing excellence, Longchamp’s teams have always brought respect and attention to their products. “We produce, we care, we repair”. Since 2019, the use of recycled fabrics has been introduced into the Le Pliage® line, with the goal of transitioning from the use of virgin nylon to recycled nylon throughout the entire Le Pliage® collection by 2023. Preserving its independent family origins, Longchamp has been owned and managed by the Cassegrain family for four generations. Today, the brand has more than 300 stores in 80 countries.

Marielle Cochard
Marielle Cochard - Supply Chain Director
« The Neoline project, a mixture of Optimism, Adventure, Energy and Know-How, perfectly echoes the philosophy of our company. As a long-time user of maritime transport for our exports to the United States, our agreement with Neoline is a natural complement to our global decarbonization approach. Longchamp has always been committed to making products that last over time; thanks to this partnership, we are moving to a new stage in our ecological commitment to the transportation of our goods. This partnership is a positive and strong sign for our transport and logistics teams and for the new generations of employees. The geographical proximity of our companies, located in the West of France, brings a complementary synergy. We are proud and happy to work for a cleaner future by participating in this great adventure. We are looking forward to the departure of our first containers! »

The family company La Fournée Dorée has kept alive the French bakery’s artisanal and regional know-how for four generations. Thanks to the quality of its brioche products and to its innovation strategy, the group is now one of the leading food brands in France. With 7 production sites in France and Canada, and more than 1.700 employees, La Fournée Dorée is also developing in more than 25 countries.

Concerned about preserving the future, since its creation the group has been committed to look for authenticity in its recipes, with raw materials selecting according to the highest standards of quality while reducing its consumptions and its carbon footprint. It also strives to ensure the greatest responsiveness to the demands of the consumers and its partners, as well as its employees.

dominique-morillon-neoline-chargeur-transport-voile
Dominique Morillon - Associate Managing Director of La Fournée Dorée
« La Fournée Dorée is particularly proud to support the initiative of Neoline. Thus, we become the first group of the French food sector to join this project and to ship our products to the American continent while ensuring the future of our planet. Thus, we are in perfect harmony with our environmental commitments. Indeed, Neoline has all the assets to promote our expansion, export the French know-how in an extraordinary way and, I hope, restore the prestige of sailing freight. Trained in the merchant navy, I particularly appreciate this project that brilliantly combines a thousand-year-old maritime tradition with a virtuous and futuristic vision. »