MARITIME TRADE & SHIPPING
DHL, French Firm Vela to Deploy Wind-Powered Trimarans for Transatlantic Cargo from 2027
DHL, French Firm Vela to Deploy Wind-Powered Trimarans for Transatlantic Cargo from 2027
By Raymond Gold | Waterways News
Global logistics giant DHL is set to introduce wind-powered cargo vessels into its freight operations, marking a significant step in the maritime industry’s push to decarbonise international shipping.
DHL Global Forwarding, the company’s freight forwarding arm, has entered a partnership with French maritime firm Vela to deploy purpose-built wind-powered trimaran vessels on transatlantic routes beginning in 2027 — a development that signals growing commercial appetite for wind propulsion technology beyond niche or experimental use.
The vessels, currently under construction, will carry commercial cargo between France and the United States, positioning wind energy as a viable propulsion alternative to both conventional fossil-fuel shipping and carbon-intensive air freight.
Vessel Specifications
The trimaran design — featuring three hulls — gives the vessels enhanced stability and speed relative to their size. Each vessel stretches approximately 220 feet in length and is built from lightweight aluminium, a construction choice Vela says enables cruising speeds of around 14 knots running entirely on wind power.
Cargo capacity stands at up to 415 metric tonnes per vessel — far exceeding what air freight can carry, while remaining considerably smaller than the large container ships that dominate global trade lanes.
Unlike conventional cargo ships locked to fixed routing schedules, the trimarans will dynamically adjust their courses based on prevailing wind conditions to optimise propulsion efficiency. A transatlantic crossing is projected to take approximately two weeks — longer than the nine days typical for standard container ships and substantially more than the eight-hour air freight transit, but at dramatically lower emissions cost.
The Green Dividend
Vela estimates that the trimarans could cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 99 per cent compared with air freight, and by up to 90 per cent against conventional sea transport, depending on route and conditions.
Vela co-founder Michaël Fernandez-Ferri framed the project as a fundamental departure from the industry’s dependence on fossil fuels. “We are harnessing the power of the wind and using only wind for propulsion,” he said.
The venture carries notable maritime pedigree: it was co-founded by French professional sailor François Gabart, who holds the solo circumnavigation world record — completed in under 43 days.
For DHL’s part, the partnership is presented as consistent with its broader decarbonisation agenda. “As a leading player in the global logistics industry, DHL is committed to supporting the decarbonisation of transport and expanding the range of solutions available to its customers,” said Laurent Terreyre, Chief Executive Officer of DHL Global Forwarding France.
The company stressed that the wind-powered vessels would complement, not replace, its existing freight services.
First commercial shipments are expected in 2027, with DHL cargo sharing vessel space alongside goods from other shippers. Target cargo types include pharmaceuticals, wine, and cosmetics. Vela has set a target of operating five trimarans by 2030, with the eventual goal of weekly transatlantic departures.
Nigeria Watch
The DHL-Vela partnership carries pointed relevance for Nigeria’s maritime and logistics community, even though the initial service corridor — France to the United States — lies far from West African trade lanes.
Nigeria remains heavily exposed to the cost and emissions consequences of conventional shipping. The country is a significant importer of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, and fast-moving consumer goods — precisely the cargo categories Vela is targeting. As European and North American shippers begin migrating such high-value, time-sensitive cargo to green-certified vessels, Nigerian importers sourcing from those markets may increasingly find themselves facing a sustainability compliance premium embedded in freight pricing.
More structurally, the DHL-Vela deal illustrates the commercial momentum now building around wind-assisted and wind-primary propulsion — a technology with direct applicability to Nigeria’s own inland and coastal waterway operations. Wind-assisted propulsion systems are already being retrofitted onto vessels operating in West African waters by some operators, and the economics are improving.
For NIMASA and the Nigerian Ports Authority, the broader lesson is regulatory and strategic: the International Maritime Organisation’s revised greenhouse gas strategy — targeting net-zero emissions from international shipping by or around 2050 — will progressively tighten requirements on vessels calling at Nigerian ports. Operators and terminal managers who treat decarbonisation as a distant concern risk being caught unprepared as green corridor requirements and emissions-linked port dues become standard practice among Nigeria’s major trading partners.
Nigeria’s blue economy agenda, championed by the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, has yet to produce a clear technology roadmap for vessel decarbonisation on domestic waterways.
The DHL-Vela model — commercial partnership between a logistics major and an innovative shipbuilder — offers a template worth studying as Nigeria seeks to attract investment into its inland waterway and short-sea shipping sectors.
Waterways News | www.waterwaysnews.ng
Editor's Choice
24 Vessels Discharging Petroleum, Bulk Cargo in Lagos Ports as NPA Reports Sustained Cargo Throughput
24 Vessels Discharging Petroleum, Bulk Cargo in Lagos Ports as NPA Reports Sustained Cargo Throughput
By Emetena Ikuku | Waterways News
A total of twenty-four vessels are currently discharging petroleum products and other commodities at Apapa, Lekki and Tin-Can Island ports, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) disclosed on Friday, pointing to sustained cargo throughput across the Lagos port complex.
According to the Authority, the berthed vessels are offloading a mix that includes bulk wheat, bulk salt, general cargo, fresh fish, containerised goods, bulk sugar, petrol, bulk gas, diesel and bulk urea.
NPA also reported that 46 additional vessels are expected to arrive at the Lagos ports in the coming days, carrying general cargo, bulk urea, crude oil, bulk gas, bulk wheat, bulk millet, bulk sugar, condensate, aviation fuel, containerised goods, bulk salt and petrol.
A further nine vessels have already arrived and are currently waiting to berth, with cargo manifests showing bulk urea, crude oil, diesel, aviation fuel, gasoline, bulk fertilizer, general cargo and petrol.
Nigeria Watch
The traffic figures offer a useful pulse-check on Lagos port activity at a moment when downstream petroleum supply chains are under close watch. With diesel, petrol, aviation fuel and gasoline featuring prominently across all three vessel categories — discharging, inbound, and awaiting berth — the numbers suggest import-dependent fuel supply into Lagos remains active even as Nigeria’s refining capacity expands.
For terminal operators and freight forwarders, the 79-vessel pipeline (24 berthed, 9 waiting, 46 inbound) signals continued pressure on berth allocation and turnaround efficiency at Apapa and Tin-Can Island in particular — both of which already contend with congestion and access-road bottlenecks. The presence of bulk agricultural commodities (wheat, sugar, millet, salt) alongside petroleum products also reinforces Lagos ports’ dual role as Nigeria’s primary entry point for both energy and food security imports.
Stakeholders will want to watch whether NPA’s call-up and berthing window management can absorb this volume without the queuing delays that have historically driven up demurrage costs for importers and consignees.
CMA CGM Slaps $750 Per Container Surcharge on Nigeria-Bound Cargo from China
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
French shipping conglomerate CMA CGM has announced a new Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) of $750 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) on containerised cargo moving from China to Nigeria, a development that threatens to drive up the cost of imported goods across Africa’s most populous nation.
The surcharge, which took effect on 15 June 2026, covers both dry and refrigerated cargo shipped under short-term contracts on the China-West Africa trade corridor.
Under the new rate structure, Nigeria joins Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Equatorial Guinea at the $750 per TEU band. Togo faces the steepest levy at $850 per TEU, while Ghana attracts $650 per TEU. Countries in the West Africa North range — including Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Sao Tome & Principe — will pay a comparatively lower $350 per TEU. Shipments to Gambia attract $600 per TEU. Guinea is the sole country exempted from the latest charge.
CMA CGM has framed the surcharge as a measure to support reliable and efficient service delivery across the route. However, the timing is likely to draw criticism from Nigerian importers and trade groups already contending with a difficult operating environment marked by naira volatility, elevated inflation and high logistics costs at the nation’s ports.
The new charge represents a dramatic climb from where surcharges stood just 15 months ago. In April 2025, CMA CGM’s equivalent levy on the China-to-West Africa route stood at $250 per TEU. By March 2026, it had reached $700 per TEU before brief adjustments placed it between $500 and $600 per TEU in April notices. The carrier pegged it at $600 per TEU effective 1 June 2026 — only to revise it upward to $750 per TEU within a fortnight, a pattern that underscores the pricing turbulence that has increasingly defined freight rates on this route.
The cumulative effect is stark: today’s surcharge is three times what Nigerian importers were absorbing just over a year ago.
For businesses that rely on imports — manufacturers sourcing raw materials, distributors of electronics and pharmaceuticals, and traders bringing in consumer goods — the new charge adds another layer of cost that is typically passed down the supply chain to end users. In practical terms, it means higher prices on shelves at a time when purchasing power remains under significant strain.
The development also lands as stakeholders continue pressing for structural reforms to reduce the cost of trade through Nigerian ports, improve export competitiveness and attract more direct shipping services to reduce reliance on transshipment hubs.
Industry watchers say that until Nigeria is able to generate sufficient export volumes to make the country a commercially attractive destination for carriers — rather than a market that must absorb whatever surcharges international lines choose to impose — freight pricing will remain largely outside the control of Nigerian businesses and regulators.
NIGERIA WATCH
What this means for Nigeria at a glance
$750/TEU — Current Peak Season Surcharge on China-Nigeria cargo (eff. 15 June 2026)
3x — How much the surcharge has grown since April 2025, when it stood at $250/TEU
2 weeks — How quickly CMA CGM raised the rate from $600 to $750/TEU in June alone
Who bears the cost — Importers of raw materials, pharmaceuticals, electronics, machinery and consumer goods
Knock-on effect — Higher landed costs are expected to feed into factory-gate and retail prices, adding pressure to already elevated inflation
Wider context — Nigeria is paying $100/TEU more than Ghana and $400/TEU more than West Africa North range countries such as Senegal and Liberia
The bigger picture — Without strong export volumes to balance trade flows, Nigeria remains a price-taker on international freight routes
Waterways News | Covering Nigeria’s Maritime, Port and Inland Waterways Sector
How Liberia Turn Its Flag into a Maritime Goldmine — But the Profits Keep Sailing Away
The world’s largest ship registry sits in a West African nation with a $670 per capita income. The ships are everywhere. The money, largely, is not.
By Oghenewoke Osaweren | Waterways News
In the high-pressure world of global shipping, few decisions carry as much financial weight as where a vessel is registered. And right now, more shipowners are making that decision in favour of Liberia than any other country on earth.
As of June 2026, the Liberia-flagged fleet stood at 307.3 million gross tonnage — making the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) the first registry in history to cross the 300 million GT threshold. It is the third consecutive year Liberia has held the title of the world’s largest shipping registry, widening its lead over its nearest rival by nearly 45 million gross tons.
The numbers are staggering. The Liberian Ship Registry now accounts for 17 percent of the global fleet, with 6,092 vessels flying its flag, and it represents 28 percent of global newbuilding gross tonnage — meaning more than one in four new ships entering the global fleet now does so under the Liberian colours.
But what pulls the world’s shipowners to a flag planted in one of West Africa’s most impoverished nations? And, critically, what is Liberia itself getting out of the arrangement?
THE MAGNET: WHAT SHIPOWNERS ARE REALLY BUYING
Established in 1948, the Liberian Registry has built its reputation on maritime safety, environmental standards, and administrative efficiency. Yet the hard commercial draw has always been simpler than that: cost reduction on a massive scale.
Shipowners choose Liberia’s open registry for lower taxes and reduced registration fees that can significantly slash operational costs, alongside the freedom to hire multinational crews at competitive wages — bypassing the higher labour costs imposed by national registries in Europe, Asia, or the Americas.
There are no crew nationality restrictions on Liberian vessels, and taxes are assessed at conservative rates based on net tonnage. For owners managing fleets of dozens of vessels, the cumulative savings run into tens of millions of dollars annually.
The registry is administered from Vienna, Virginia, with offices in New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Piraeus, Tokyo, Zurich, Singapore, and Monrovia, providing clients with 24-hour service. The bureaucratic friction that delays other registries simply does not exist here — a Liberian ship-owning corporation can typically be formed on the same working day instructions are received.
THE CHINA CARD
Beyond the traditional cost advantages, a newer and increasingly consequential incentive has emerged. Under a renewed maritime agreement with the People’s Republic of China, Liberian-flag vessels now enjoy preferential tonnage dues rates at Chinese ports, alongside expedited customs procedures and simplified port formalities — advantages that competing flags such as the Marshall Islands do not enjoy.
In a global shipping economy where China handles a dominant share of cargo, this diplomatic edge is no small commercial consideration.
LIBERIA’S GAIN — ON PAPER
Proponents of the arrangement argue that Liberia benefits meaningfully from the registry’s prestige and revenue. The Liberia Maritime Authority has described holding the world’s largest registry title as both an honour and a responsibility, with Commissioner Neto Zarzar Lighe Sr. pledging commitment to innovation and best practices expected of a Category ‘A’ member of the International Maritime Organisation’s Council.
The registry is reported to generate approximately 25 percent of Liberia’s national income — a figure that, if accurate, would represent a remarkable dependency on a single offshore arrangement. Liberian-flagged vessels also carry more than one-third of the oil imported into the United States, giving Liberia an invisible but powerful role in American energy supply chains.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE ARITHMETIC
But the glowing statistics mask a deeply troubling reality.
According to the Liberia Revenue Authority’s own records, the country received just US$12 million in maritime revenue in the 2019-2020 tax year from LISCR — amounting to only 2.75 percent of its total domestic revenue. More recent estimates place Liberia’s annual take from the registry at approximately $20 million.
Against a backdrop where Liberia’s total GDP stood at $4.75 billion in 2024, with a per capita income of just $670, the question becomes stark: who is really benefiting from the world’s most powerful shipping flag?
When over 130 countries representing 90 percent of global GDP came together in 2021 to agree a historic minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent for multinationals, shipping alone was excluded — an arrangement that continues to shield the registry’s clients from the kind of global tax reform that would otherwise erode their savings.
The structural explanation is revealing. LISCR is a purpose-made limited liability company registered in Delaware and based in Virginia, with US nationals as exclusive investors under Liberian law — meaning the entity that manages the world’s largest shipping registry is legally and operationally American, not Liberian.
Even the United States Ambassador to Liberia has publicly acknowledged the gap, stating that “the revenue, jobs, and expertise generated by LISCR have the potential to benefit Liberia’s economy in nearly every sector” — while urging that maritime revenues be transparently incorporated into the national budget. The diplomatic phrasing barely conceals the implicit admission: the potential is there, but the delivery has fallen short.
A FLAG THAT FLIES EVERYWHERE, PROFITS THAT LAND NOWHERE NEAR MONROVIA
Liberian investigative voices have grown increasingly vocal, with local media questioning whether registry revenues are ending up in the pockets of a privileged few, including top officials and their political lawyers, rather than flowing into public coffers.
The ITF has long argued that the FOC system lets foreign shipowners use the Liberian flag to benefit from lax regulations and lower operating expenses, resulting in labour exploitation with little meaningful economic benefit returning to Liberia itself.
The paradox is stark enough to have earned a name in academic and policy circles. The downward drag that tax havens brought to government revenues worldwide was once commonly referred to as the “Liberian Problem.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE FOR AFRICA
For maritime-watchers across West Africa — and in Nigeria, where the inland waterways sector continues to seek investment and regulatory frameworks that actually serve national interests — the Liberian registry story carries a cautionary resonance.
A nation can sit at the centre of global maritime commerce, command the allegiance of 6,000 vessels flying its flag across every ocean, carry a third of America’s oil imports, and still struggle to translate that extraordinary leverage into domestic development. The ships sail. The registry grows. The flag waves on every sea.
The revenue, largely, waves goodbye with them.
waterwaysnews.ng covers rivers, coasts, creeks, and the full sweep of Nigeria’s blue economy.
Oil and Gas3 months agoTantita’s Pipeline Deal: $144m Contract, Rising Output, and the Questions that Deserve Answers
- MARITIME TRADE & SHIPPING3 months ago
World’s Largest Container Ship Sets New Maritime Record with 22,233 TEUs on Single Voyage
- Blue Economy4 months ago
Nigeria’s Coast Guard Bill: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
