The team at Sail Cargo, building a carbon negative marine freight 155ft (47m) timber three mast ship in the jungle in Costa Rica, has reached a major milestone with the raising of the first frame. The keel had been laid, complete, by January 8 and the staging around it to take the frames needed completing as well.

Frame in the Morning Light

The ship, to be named Ceiba, is the subject of a detailed feature in CS which can be read:  HERE

Ceiba

Ceiba’s spokesman Shani Meintjes told CS: “This is of course immensely exciting for us, as the entire team are really getting into the swing of the build of the schooner and progress is finally becoming very visible.

“Hoisting the first frame was achieved through pure ‘manpower’; hauling and lifting the giant that is Frame No. 48 up into the sky with the use of ropes rigged to the keel, hanger and hand. Many strong arms heaved ropes through a pulley system, attached to a single mast-post for each toptimber, shear-end of the frame whilst the frame’s floor timber rested directly upon the keel onto which it was about to be placed. The initial 45 degrees of the lift proved to be difficult to achieve smoothly, however, after the hauling mechanism was improved and the team worked stronger together, the frame swung neatly up into place, giving the group the first glimpse of the vast vertical height of Ceiba.

“This is the first full forward frame, located just aft of the bow and is fixed together by hardwood tree-nails (also known as trunnels) of Tamarindo del Monte (Latin: Dialium guianese), which are wedged in place. Each of the large U-shaped frames, which have a maximum dimension of 8 by 8 meters, are made from Spanish Cedar (Cedrela odorata) and can be made of up to twelve separate pieces of the locally-sourced wood.

Assembling Frame N. 48

“Looking forward, as each proceeding frame is under construction whilst the preceding is planed level and joined together, the aim is to have a new frame up each week for the next year, totalling approximately 56 weeks to put all 56 frames together and attach them to the keel. Alongside, the team also plans to be working on the stem construction of Ceiba. This centrepiece at the bow of the ship, will use the well-known shipbuilding wood, Guapinol (also known as Jatobá, Latin: Hymenaea courbaril). This massive tropical hardwood was brought down in a landslide during the rainy season of last year not far away from the shipyard. Soon it will be arriving on site once it has been milled and cut to size on a larger-scale sawmill to become the statuesque stem of the first ship to ever set sail from the AstilleroVerde.

“It is only together that we can ensure #seashippingchange. The entire project is funded by people purchasing stock in the company. Progress from start to finish can not be achieved without the help of people, like you, investing in shares in the company, starting at only $1000 USD and increasing in increments of $100 USD. Around 23% of these have already been secured, so if you are interested, get in contact soon! To find out more or to become a fellow owner of Ceiba, email SAILCARGO INC. today info@sailcargo.org.”