Brigantes – Sail-powered Shipping
Restauration of a historic tall ship to be used for low-emission transportation of organic products
Project Facts
Location
Austria, Italy
Vienna and Trapani (Sicily)
Project Volume
1-5 Mio. EUR
Applied Financing Solutions
Private Equity, Crowdfunding
Project Dates
Start: 2016
In operation since/from: 2019
The Story
The Brigantes Project is about the restauration of a historic tall ship from 1911 to be reused for low-emission transportation of organic products, thus promoting the benefits of carbon neutral shipping. The goal is to help create sustainable consumption patterns starting from a cup of sail shipped coffee.
Together with its sail-cargo partners Brigantes will soon be able to move hundreds of tons of selected organic products by the sole power of the wind: coffee and cocoa beans from South America to Europe; Mediterranean products such as wines, oil etc. to Northern Europe and the Americas. Yet Brigantes is more than just about low-emission transportation and sailing; it’s about sustainable economy and tourism, seamanship, wellbeing, arts...
Believing in a fair and respectful way of producing and working, the project team aims to create a new sustainable business model that empowers local producers, restores the traditional seasonal food consumption and gastronomy, and protects and preserves natural resources. Moreover, the project is about changing minds: traditional sailing ships as a symbol for a change long due; a lighthouse project to raise awareness of the true costs of shipping on environment, societies and future generations!
Success Factor | Hero Moment
Brigantes started as a grass-root movement in 2016. Since then the community has grown from a few enthusiastic visionaries to hundreds of dedicated supporters and helpers who are investing their time, skills and money. The ship – a historical schooner built in 1911 – was saved from demolition in 2016 and after a meticulous renovation the hull was christened as SV-BRIGANTES in May 2019 in Trapani (Sicily). At the same time 4 tons of coffee beans were sailed to Europe and Brigantes Coffee was launched in Austria and Italy. Coffee is the perfect product to carry Brigantes’ story and its strong message while sustaining the economy of the entire project. Thanks to the joint efforts of the sail cargo community, overall awareness about the true costs of sea transportation is rising and more and more companies are looking for alternatives to container shipping. The next generation of sail cargo ship (500 tons and larger) is already being planned.
Submitter
Sail-powered Shipping GmbH, Austria
Contact Mail
daniel@brigantes.eu
Website
www.brigantes.eu
