What Towt does

Towt, operating commercially as NEWTOWT (legal entity: TransOceanic Wind Transport), is a French maritime freight operator founded in 2011 and headquartered in Le Havre, France. The company runs a fleet of cargo sailing vessels — currently two operational ships, Anemos and Artemis — that transport goods using wind propulsion as an alternative to fossil-fuel-powered ocean shipping. Each vessel carries up to 1,200 tonnes of segregated cargo per rotation, and the company issues a proprietary ANEMOS certified attestation label that documents the zero-emission character of each shipment for downstream customers.

The business model is a sales-led, transaction-fee freight operation: customers (predominantly enterprise coffee importers) charter cargo capacity on specific rotations via direct commercial engagement, with no publicly disclosed pricing. The primary commercial focus for 2026 is the newly opened Brazil line (Fécamp – São Sebastião), for which six rotations are planned, alongside continued rotation activity from Le Havre. A fleet construction program for six additional sailing cargo vessels is scheduled for delivery between 2026 and 2028, which would expand the active fleet to eight ships.

Towt is a privately held company with 11–50 employees, funded in part by French institutional and impact investors (Bpifrance, Caisse des Dépôts, Crédit Mutuel Impact, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Atlante Gestion). The company was re-anchored in May 2026 under a renewed leadership team led by President Karl Sement, with founders Diana Mesa (co-founder, CEO and managing director) and Guillaume Grand (founder and director) retaining founder involvement. Its core competitive positioning rests on being a first-mover in wind-powered ocean cargo shipping since 2011, combined with a regulatory tailwind from tightening maritime decarbonization rules and a certified emissions-attestation product that supports customer ESG and Scope 3 reporting.

Name

Towt

Legal name

TransOceanic Wind Transport

Website

https://TOWT.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Towt (NEWTOWT) is a French wind-powered maritime freight operator founded in 2011, running sailing cargo vessels (Anemos and Artemis) to deliver zero-emission ocean shipping, primarily serving enterprise coffee importers on the new Fécamp–São Sebastião Brazil line.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Maritime Freight / Wind-Powered Cargo Shipping

NAICS

Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883), Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

SIC

Deep Sea Foreign Transportation Of Freight (4412), Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Chartering & Heavy-Lift Vessel / Barge / RoRo Solutions (TLACAIAJ)

Keywords

• Wind-powered shipping
• Maritime cargo transport
• Sailing cargo vessels
• Decarbonized ocean freight
• Sustainable shipping services

Headquarters

HQ city

Le Havre

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Cargo Shipping Rotations: Revenue generated per shipment rotation of cargo sailing vessels on designated routes. Customers (e.g., coffee importers) pay for freight transport services. Each vessel rotation carries up to 1,200 tonnes of segregated cargo. Six rotations Fécamp – São Sebastião planned for 2026.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Towt (operating as NEWTOWT) provides zero-emission maritime freight services using wind-powered cargo sailing vessels (voiliers-cargos). The company operates the Anemos and Artemis vessels out of Le Havre and Fécamp, France, transporting up to 1,200 tonnes of segregated cargo per rotation, with a Brazil Line (Fécamp – São Sebastião) serving coffee importers planned for 2026. Each shipment is backed by the proprietary ANEMOS Label certifying the decarbonization of transported goods.

Product overview

Towt (operated as NEWTOWT — TransOceanic Wind Transport) is a provider of wind-powered maritime transport services, operating a fleet of sailing cargo vessels (voiliers-cargos) that transport goods using wind energy as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel shipping. The core offering consists of two operational vessels (Anemos & Artemis) conducting cargo rotations, supported by the ANEMOS Label providing certified decarbonization attestation. Services include direct ship chartering and the Brazil Line route (Fécamp – São Sebastião) for 2026. A fleet expansion program is underway to build six additional vessels between 2026 and 2028.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ANEMOS: Certified attestation for decarbonation of transported goods.

Products and services

• Anemos & Artemis Cargo Sailing Vessels
• ANEMOS Label
• Ship Chartering (Affrètement de navires)
• Brazil Line (Ligne Brésil)

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero greenhouse gas emissions per cargo rotation using wind propulsion
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CMA CGM: France-headquartered global container shipping major with growing investment in LNG, methanol, and biofuel propulsion. Overlaps with Towt in addressing maritime decarbonization demand from importers (including coffee), but operates at vastly larger scale and via engine-based low-carbon pathways.
• Hapag-Lloyd: Major German container shipping line with active sustainability program and LNG-fuelled newbuild orders. Operates on South America trade lanes used by coffee exporters and therefore competes for the same ESG-conscious shipper customers.
• Maersk: Global container shipping leader with stated decarbonization roadmap including methanol-dual-fuel newbuilds. Serves many of the same coffee and agri-commodity importers, but competes on schedule reliability and volume rather than wind-propulsion purity.

Others

• bound4blue: Spanish supplier of suction-sail wind-assist technology retrofitted to commercial ships. Adjacent peer: not a cargo operator but a technology enabler for wind-assisted propulsion on the kind of ocean vessels Towt operates.
• Compagnie du Ponant: French sailing-cruise operator using a fleet of masted vessels. Related through shared French maritime heritage and sailing-vessel operational expertise, but serves passenger rather than cargo markets and is therefore an ecosystem peer rather than a direct competitor.
• Norsepower: Finnish supplier of rotor-sail wind-assist systems installed on commercial cargo ships (including oil tankers and bulk carriers). Adjacent technology peer — provides complementary rather than competing maritime wind-propulsion infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Oceanbird (Wallenius Wilhelmsen): Wind-powered RoRo vessel concept developed by Wallenius Wilhelmsen for transatlantic car and rolling cargo. Comparable in technology (sail-based propulsion on large ocean vessels) and end-market (low-emission transoceanic shipping), though a corporate R&D project rather than an independent operator.
• B9 Shipping: UK-based initiative developing zero-emission sailing cargo ships for transatlantic trade. Comparable in mission (wind-assisted deep-sea cargo) and target market (ethical-commodity importers), though at an earlier stage of execution than Towt's two active vessels.

Direct peers

• Sailcargo Inc. Canadian sailing cargo startup operating the SV Avontuur for zero-emission transoceanic freight, carrying cocoa, coffee, and rum from the Caribbean. Directly comparable business model — wind-powered vessel, certified low-emission freight, ethically-sourced commodity customers.
• Neoline Développement: France-based shipping company developing the Neoliner, a wind-assisted cargo vessel designed for transatlantic freight. Most direct comparable to NEWTOWT: similar mission (decarbonized ocean freight via sailing), similar geography (French origin, transatlantic routes), and similar technology class.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TOWindTransport
• Facebookfacebook.com/TOWT.A.la.Voile
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/towt

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Towt