New drives: Bulk carrier with "Hard Sail" underway
The Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) reports on the first successful test voyage with the environmentally friendly "Hard Sail" auxiliary propulsion system on its bulk carrier "Shofu Maru" with a payload weight of 100,000 tonnes (dwt). On its maiden voyage from Japan to Australia to bunker coal and back to the island state, the 235-metre-long ship used the approximately 52-metre-high sail made of fibre-reinforced plastic, which is permanently installed in front of the cargo hatches and can be extended in four 15-metre tracks, to support the conventional propulsion system. Wind Challenger Based on a university research project, the concept for the so-called Wind Challenger has been under development for over a decade. Today it is an automated...
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