Company to use sailing vessels for Central American imports

<p>The two-masted schooner, called the "J&B," formerly was a tour craft.</p><p>Now a company is refitting it in St. Marys to import organically grown coffee from Central America in an environmentally friendly manner.</p><p>The company _ Blue & Green Packet Co. _ also wants to import other goods, including textiles, chocolate, nuts, beans, rice and tea.</p><p>The ship won't have the capability to haul nearly as much cargo as modern vessels but can haul up to 70 tons. The average voyage will be about three weeks but using the ship's sails will greatly reduce the importing costs.</p><p>"The point is to prove it can be done," said John Siman, one of the company's owners. "We can still trade commodities via sail."</p><p>He said there's a growing demand for products that are organically produced and are imported in a way that has as little negative impact to the environment as possible.</p><p>Rising shipping costs for imported goods should mean importing by sail will be a profitable venture, said Paul Flowers, another company owner.</p><p>"The price of oil will continue to go up," he said. "At the same time, container-ship shipping becomes more and more unaffordable. It's a huge cost difference."</p><p>The schooner will be renamed "Emancipator" after the renovations are completed in about a year.</p><p>The company chose the Georgia city because all the services needed to finish the refit are available. St. Marys also is one of the few places along the Atlantic seaboard that can pull a wooden vessel from the water to a dry dock without damaging the hull.</p><p>Once the boat's work is completed, the company will use the city as its home base and will build or lease a warehouse locally to house the imports. The company also wants to buy other sailing vessels for its fleet.</p><p>The ship's deck, topside structures and several ribs will be rebuilt. The masts will be replaced and the ship will be re-rigged in the most traditional way possible.</p><p>"Bringing this boat back to life to me, philosophically, is very important," Flowers said.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc310)</p>