Sailing Towards Sustainability: Innovations in Maritime Transport : Exploring the Economic Viability and Strategic Challenges of Wind-Powered Shipping

Sammanfattning

From the very beginning of humanity, shipping has always been an important part of the economy. It allowed civilizations to exchange their products easily. The purpose of this study is to analyze current and latest trends in the shipping sector.By exploring innovation around sailing ships, describe and predict future companies’ development. Using many different studies, the authors found the main theoretical problems and asked themselves if the compliance with economic growth and sustainable innovation in the shipping sector is possible. They decided to conduct a qualitative approach using references from peers and interviews with important actors in the market. This method of data collection allowed them to partially answer the question and raise some new questions. The empirical findings were collected through semi-structured interviews. In total they interviewed six people asking questions about their relationship with the newly developed sailingships. All data collected were analyzed and compared with their thoughts and the findings they have made with peer reviewed papers. In conclusion, the study showed that sailing vessels were, are, and will be one of the most sustainable means of shipping available. Many innovations in sails are created every year, making the dream of a more ecological future possible. Nevertheless , important stakeholders on the market and future representant of the maritime sector agreed on the important need for development. Sailing vessels are still evolving andare not economically and ecologically efficient. More studies in the future need to be conducted about innovations and trends in this market.