The Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) reports on the first successful test voyage with the environmentally friendly auxiliary drive "Hard Sail" 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 developed for over a decade. Today, it is an automated operating system that comprehensively recognises the wind conditions and positions and trims the sail surfaces for optimum performance utilisation.
Shofu Maru with retracted windchallenger (Hard Sail). Photo: MOL/9.net
Who did it?
MOL led the project in collaboration with the Oshima shipyard and is now testing the sail to determine its performance under normal operating conditions. It was assumed that it could achieve energy savings of five per cent when used on the trans-Pacific sailing route between Japan and Australia - and even eight per cent in strong wind conditions.
New term: Sailing operating rate
Despite minor "teething troubles" with the system, the "sailing operating rate" was maintained at a high level of around 70 per cent on the outward journey. After loading coal, the "Shofu Maru" left Newcastle in Australia on 25 October, travelling at a speed of around 11 knots. MOL announced that the vessel "is now sailing smoothly to a customer's unloading terminal" and will arrive in Japan on 14 November, completing its maiden voyage.
And then the arithmetic really begins! But as Werner said: "That's better!"
Source: Maritime Executive
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