Cutting shipping emissions with a data-driven kite

Remagining the sustainability of maritime travel

While sustainabillity is almost universally accepted as essential to the future of the planet and business across all regions and industries, there are certain realities that must be acknowledged. Chief among them is the fact that so much of modern business and society relies on practices that heavily contribute to carbon emissions and pollution.

Take shipping as a primary example. While maritime logistics play an absolutely critical role in the global economy, it also bears responsibility for 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions. As such, achieving true sustainability will require new technology and strategies that will enable ships to fulfill their role without continuing to harm the environment.

Enter Beyond the Sea.

“Beyond the Sea was the brainchild of Yves Parlier, the great yachtsman,” explains Marc Thienpont, CEO at Beyond the Sea. “He found himself with no way of setting up a makeshift rig.

“In the early days, he said to himself, ‘But at that moment, if I had a kite that could tow me, I could have moved forward more easily.’ From this idea, several solutions were born, which today make up our product range.”

In pursuit of more environmentally-friendly ways of sailing, the company has looked to develop a method for using kites to assist towing and generally improving the mobility of various nautical vessels. This led to the creation of the SeaKite, an autonomous kite traction system designed to fit ships intended for commercial navigation, fishing, research, and largescale transportation. Available from 25 to 200 m², this product generates a substantial amount of power without relying on traditional energy sources. The 400 m² model will be available in 2026.

This is enabled by an autopilot that automatically takes into account parameters such as weather conditions, wind angle, and changes in the boat’s heading to support a human pilot in making real-time adaptations. However, such a complex and powerful digital technology is dependent on a massive amount of data.

This need brought Beyond the Sea to Capgemini and inspired the genesis of a partnership that would take the SeaKite to the next level.

Empowering low-emission sailing with data

In order to properly manage the data produced by the SeaKite, the company needed the right sensor and technology to deliver a higher level of reliability. Capgemini jumped into this challenge alongside Beyond the Sea experts and stakeholders.

“During sea trials, in particular, we collect tens of thousands of pieces of data,” describes Gaël Prudhomme, Head of the Applied Innovation Exchange for Capgemini in Bordeaux.

. “To obtain this data, we need sensors. And there’s a real challenge in choosing the right sensor, the right technology, that’s as reliable as possible.”

The partners coordinated to choose the right solutions for the SeaKite, ensuring that a copious amount of data could be collected and processed effectively. In addition, Capgemini created an AI algorithm that uses Beyond the Sea’s data to warn the autopilot of changing conditions that it could then use to suggest trajectory adaptations.

But as important as it was, data management was not the extent of the partnership between Beyond the Sea and Capgemini. After all, how useful would the SeaKite be if pilots didn’t know how to use it?

Preparing pilots to use a stabile platform

“For this, Capgemini has designed a simulation environment to simulate our system and start to get to grips with the different control modes with the joystick and ultimately realize how the whole system works,” says Tanguy Leau, Control Engineer at Beyond the Sea.

In this safe environment, users can train to improve kite-handling performance and become familiar with the controls prior to deployment in a live setting. Once the SeaKite is towing their vessel across the waves, these pilots already know how to interprate and respond to data-driven warnings provided by the autopilot. And as the technology continues to evolve and improve, those same crews can continue to learn and prepare before using solution while sailing.

Finally, Beyond the Sea and Capgemini combined their expertise and resources to enhance the SeaKite’s stability by eliminating any risk associated with the lack of a permanent connection to the ship’s mast.

“We’re working with Capgemini to eliminate this risk by using sensors on deck and artificial intelligence,” Thienpont says.

“We make our algorithm learn cause and effect, and then anticipate any unjustified behavior,” Prudhomme describes. “The idea, then, is to be able to intervene. We’ll display an alert to the pilot so that he can process it and activate the right procedures.”

A vision for larger scale shipping

Already the SeaKite has enabled the vessels for which it is suited to save 20% on fuel by expanding their mobility options while travelling. And the ambition of both Beyond the Sea and Capgemini is far from satiated!

“Our roadmap will take us to 2026 with a 400 m² wing,” Thienpont says. This, in turn, will enable us to achieve average fuel savings of 20% for ships over 150 m or even 200 m long.”

Already, Beyond the Sea and Capgemini have substantially advanced Yves Parlier’s vision of sailing while simultaneously helping an essential industry begin to cut into its emissions. As the SeaKite and other related products develop, innovation of this kind will support business, sport, and environmental interests in equal measure.