Fly-Box Advances 'Flying Container' Model to Technical Appraisal Stage with Global Partner

Maritime startup Fly-Box is bringing its hydrofoil container vessel concept closer to reality through a detailed techno-economic assessment collaboration with a major port industry player, promising to address congestion at transshipment hubs via high-speed coastal transport solutions.

Containers-seen-flying-across-Lake-Geneva

"Flying Container" Model (Photo: Fly-Box)

French-Swiss deeptech maritime startup Fly-Box is taking its foil-borne container concept into the next phase of development. Specifically, the company has initiated a detailed techno-economic assessment process with a global partner active in both shipping and port operations.

This move follows a vibrant year for Fly-Box, which included establishing pilot routes in the Gulf and successfully testing a scaled prototype on Lake Geneva this past summer. The new assessment will benchmark the efficiency of the Fly-Box platform against trucks and traditional feeder vessels based on real-world operational scenarios.

Solving the Logistics Bottleneck Between Ports

Fly-Box aims to tackle a long-standing bottleneck in container logistics: the movement between main hubs and secondary ports. Currently, these flows are often split between feeders - which are designed for volume rather than speed - and long-haul road transport, causing congestion, emissions, and high costs, particularly around major gateway ports.

The company’s solution is a 20-meter hydrofoil platform capable of carrying a single 40ft container at speeds of approximately 25 knots. Operating at shallow draft berths and utilizing standard port equipment, Fly-Box states that its platform can provide an "express" coastal shipping option, rapidly moving containers out of congested terminals and closer to end customers by sea.

Antoine de Roquefeuil, COO of Fly-Box, commented: “With Fly-Box, the sea reclaims its role in port-to-port transport. On many routes, our new generation coastal shipping pushes trucks back to where they create the most value - the last mile.”

Feasibility Assessment and System Integration

The ongoing study with the unnamed industry partner will delve into CAPEX (capital expenditure) and OPEX (operational expenditure), emission performance, and system integration. This includes how these platforms will interface with Terminal Operating Systems (TOS), Port Community Systems (PCS), and vessel tracking tools, alongside practical considerations such as navigation, power supply, safety, and maintenance.

Fly-Box positions its platforms as a standard, complementary element within existing multimodal chains rather than a disruptive structural change. By scaling up short-sea connections, the company argues that this concept could also redirect container traffic back to smaller ports that have been marginalized by the concentration of flows into a few mega-hubs.

Vision for an Autonomous Fleet

Looking further ahead, Fly-Box is betting on software and automation as key differentiators. The long-term goal is to operate fleets of platforms as autonomous or remotely controlled "swarms," which the company believes is more feasible at sea than on congested roads. The hydrofoils play a central role, lifting the hull out of the water to cut drag and reduce energy consumption by 30–40%, while improving speed and schedule reliability in rough sea conditions.

The startup has drawn on expertise from America’s Cup projects and hydrofoils, as well as energy and systems experts from the automotive and academic worlds. Its 8-meter test model "flew" on Lake Geneva this summer, validating core design choices, with a follow-up test program planned for next spring.

Backed by three family offices from France, Belgium, and the UAE, Fly-Box is currently seeking a fourth investor to close its pre-seed funding round. This capital will support the design and construction of the first two full-scale pre-production units.

Alain Thébault, founder of Fly-Box, shared enthusiastically: “Two years after the initial idea, the prototype is flying and discussions with industry players are accelerating,” said founder Alain Thébault. “A new, automated building block on the water is starting to take shape.”

See more: