The coal carrier Shofu Maru, owned and operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), achieves significant fuel savings thanks to its Wind Challenger hard sail wind propulsion system. Measurements were taken during a total of seven round-trip voyages to Japan, mainly from Australia, Indonesia, and North America.
During these trips, the Shofu Maru transported coal for Tohoku Electric Power. It is the first coal carrier in the world to be equipped with a Wind Challenger.
Over the course of about eighteen months since the Shofu Maru’s delivery in October 2022, MOL has measured the performance of the Wind Challenger continuously on actual voyages, and confirmed that the Wind Challenger sail reduced daily fuel consumption by up to seventeen per cent, and by five to eight per cent per voyage on average.
The status in which the Wind Challenger sails are operated in automatic control mode is defined as “in operation.” Even when in operation, the Wind Challenger is not producing thrust in the event of a headwind. The effect of fuel savings during operation depends largely on the wind conditions encountered by the vessel. The effect of fuel savings is calculated using a method verified by Lloyd’s Register.
Also read: MOL takes delivery of first cargo vessel with Wind Challenger hard sail
Eighty vessels with Wind Challenger by 2035
MOL has set the target of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 in the “MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2. 2.2.” Among the main actions to achieve this target is the introduction of further energy-saving technologies, and the group plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030, increasing to eighty by 2035.
Picture: The Wind Challenger-equipped coal carrier Shofu Maru underway with the sail in operation.
Also read: MOL designed hard sail system to be installed on bulk carrier
