CargoKite

CargoKite is a venture-capital backed deep-tech start-up developing emission-free, energy self-sufficient and autonomous micro cargo ships. The company was founded in 2022 by Amelie Binder, Marcus Bischoff and Tim Linnenweber. The team consists of engineers, builders and entrepreneurs anchored at the Technical University of Munich with the common mission to provide flexible and sustainable sea freight. The ship concept is based on the innovative combination of an Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) system and hydrofoils allowing for a transport capacity of 260 tons and emission-free operations under all conditions. The AWE-system consists of a flying wing, which is connected to the hull with a tether. With this system it is possible to harvest high-altitude winds to pull the ship. These have a probability of occurrence of over 95% and a higher energy density compared to those closer to the ground. Hydrofoils are wing-like blades, placed underneath the ship’s hull to reduce drag. They stabilize the ship, control the forces of the AWE-system and transform them into a flexible direction of motion. An innovative route planning algorithm, tailored to the new ship class, calculates the shortest route based on current weather data and precisely estimates the time of arrival using Artificial Intelligence. CargoKite will operate as a ship owner of a fleet of emission-free micro cargo ships that is developed by CargoKite and built in cooperation with a shipyard. These ships will be chartered out (leased) to shortsea shipping companies.

CargoKite is developing a new low-OPEX, flexible cargo ship which increases profitability while dramatically reducing the planetary footprint. The autonomous ship is powered solely by wind. This does not only make our solution truly sustainable, but it also reduces operating costs by up to 70% as no fuel is required and personnel on board is kept to a minimum. Eventually, shipping companies benefit from more consistent and higher margins, are able to offer a better service quality for their customers due to higher service frequency and are compliant with all current and future emission regulations.

With current propulsion systems, only large container ships are economically viable. The reason for that is simple – the larger the ship, the smaller the cost per container. At the same time, 98% of the world’s ports cannot be accessed by the largest vessels and 60% of total trade is conducted on non-mainland routes where the demand is not high enough to use large ships at capacity. What’s more, tightening emissions regulations, like the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) or the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) threaten to further erode profit margins for shipping companies. While fuel already accounts for 50% of operating costs today, alternative fuels will cost between 2 and 6 times as much as heavy fuel oil today which will drive up OPEX significantly.