The sailing craft is offering a low-carbon method for participants to ship their promotional materials and goods to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), and thus reduce the carbon impact of their attendance.
TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) announced the opportunity as part of its efforts to revive sail-powered shipping.
7 February 2012: The sailboat Irene of Bridgwater is offering to ship cargo from its ports of call in Europe to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, providing participants at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) a sustainable method to send their promotional materials and goods to the Conference. TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) announced the opportunity as part of its efforts to revive sail-powered shipping.
Irene is a 35-meter ketch that is part of the sailing fleet of TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT). Irene is scheduled to depart from Plymouth, UK, on 14 February 2012, travel to Brest, France, and Vigo, Spain, and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil, returning via the Caribbean to the UK. Irene and her crew are working to raise public awareness of clean shipping by promoting sail-transported products, and reducing the carbon footprint of transporting goods as a result. [TOWT Press Release]