An old technology may soon be helping cruise lines meet targets for reduced emissions, as ship designers look to wind and sail to take a load off ship engines.
Not your old-fashioned canvas sails, though: Most of the ideas being floated or designed center on retractable sails of various materials, including one idea to cover the sails with solar panels.
Norway's Hurtigruten company, which operates cruises and coastal ferry services, has come up with a concept project, seen above, for a cruise ship that it calls 'Sea Zero,' The design, which is the result of a year of study, is not yet ready for commissioning an actual ship. The design shows three retractable 'sails' that would be largely covered with solar panels.
The concept calls for a 443-foot ship with 270 cabins. In addition to the sails, it would have protective hull coatings, contra-rotating propellers and other new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
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