The Sail Cargo Sustainability Initiative

We tend to think that the days of sailing cargo goods across oceans were nostalgic, romantic, and very over. We can still imagine the time when local spices, new animal species and vegetables from the new world voyaged for months in sailing ships to European ports to replenish cities’ markets..

Sail Cargo Channel

Initial activities supporting sustainability in Sail Cargo London, Kent and Channel

1. To collaborate with Raybel Charters CIC (the operating company for Sail Cargo London and Kent) in within the framework of the comprehensive business model established in 2021 through the merger of Kent Sail Cargo and Sail Cargo London , thus promoting sustainably in various practical contexts in accord with this comprehensive business model.

2. Develop links to local producers in Sussex and Normandy of bespoke single origin products (cheese, charcuterie, confectionery, etc.) which can be traded as “live provenance certified sail cargo”on voyages of (i) S/B Raybel between Newhaven and Great Yarmouth via Sittingbourne (ii) Schooner Vega between Newhaven )and Le Tréport ; (iii) Schooner Idi Min between Santa Marta (Colombia)) and Newhavwn, This thus providing a direct supply chain benefiting our pot Allies in UK, Ftsance and Colombia.

3. Activate Live Provenance Demonstration and Exploration within the Sail Cargo London, Kent and Channel ecosystem by means of a Proof of value and use trial for the Provenance Creator App enabling Sail Cargo London, Kent and Channel’s Port Allies to place a QR code on each of the “sail traded” products that they offer for retail sale that, when scanned, takes one to the Sail Trading Provenance Explorer website where the explorer will be able to view the full activity history of the “Live Provenance certified” bespoke product, now including the sailing ships and voyages involved transporting and distributing this bespoke product. 

Sail Cargo London Kent and Channel Channel’s aims are designed to support the long-term sustainability of the operating companies for London Kent and Channel and the Port Allies. It will develop a publish case studies studies that validate the live provenance and sustainability achievements of the operating companies involved and and promote underlying innovative business model that ensured their sustainability in changing contexts. We will subsequently make this material available, together with the initiative's Provenance-building support platform, to all the divisions within the of the Sail Cargo Alliance.

Sail Cargo London Kent and Channel Channel's Sustainability Support programme for the period 2024-2026 involves the three major components defined below.

Aims of Sail Cargo London, Kent and ChannelChannel

Since the first large cargo ships were built in the 1930s, the days where cargo ships needed to rely on “wind power” to cover long distances have been left in limbo as the Cargo container ships, currently a fleet of 90,000 vessels, switched from environmentally safe wind to relying on fossil fuel producing sulphur oxide air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.  This form of transport currently contributes enormously to pollute not only our oceans but also all of our planet.

This initiative is a collaboration a between two UK divisions of the the Sail Cargo Alliance. The organisations involved are Raybel Charters CIC, (the operating company for Sail Cargo London and Kent) and the Sail Cargo Channel Association, supported by the London Multimedia Lab, where I am the Director for work on this initiative.

Sail Cargo London Kent and Channel brings together people and organisations who share a passion for sail-shipped cargo, working together in an ecosystem with shared ethics to create a healthy transport culture that promotes the preservation of the environment for future generations.