Sail Cargo Inc., the 2019 recipient of Positive Legacy’s first John Long Entrepreneurial Award are well on their way to fulfilling their mission to inspire change in the shipping industry. Along with laying the keel in January 2019 and making tremendous progress on their dream throughout the year they also found great success in other ways: from holding the first Annual Summit to facilitate communication in the green cargo industry, to erecting an education center that has brought learning and career opportunities for locals in woodworking and small boat building, to being able to provide employment opportunities to the local women for cooking services. Watch their amazing progress unfold here.

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Inspiring Change in the Shipping Industry While Restoring Coastal Communities in Costa Rica:

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The shipping industry is a massive industry that is damaging to the environment and communities around the world.  At AstilleroVerde the sailing cargo ship CEIBA is being built, which will be the largest emission-free cargo ship in the world when she is launched at the end of 2021. In 2019, Positive Legacy awarded $10,000 as the first John Long Entrepreneur Award to support the following steps of this endeavor:

 

• Purchasing a much-needed thickness planer which is capable of milling the dense tropical hardwoods used in the build;

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• Securing key pieces of hardwood to be made into important parts of the ship, including the keelson.  This locally-sourced wood is called Guapinol (Latin: Hymenae courbaril), and was brought down naturally in a land-slide.

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• These actions have been supplemented by the crew with tree planting to offset all emissions and to create a regenerative source of organic building materials.

 

With proper maintenance, this beautiful flagship CEIBA may work for over 100 years, creating a positive legacy for generations to come.  The work of the non-profit shipyard association, AstilleroVerde, will continue to provide gainful employment and restore the cultural fabric of the surrounding coastal communities with the Gulf of Nicoya.

 

To learn more please visit www.sailcargo.org

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