Bulker retrofitted with sailing wings makes maiden ocean crossing

A bulk carrier has set sail after being retrofitted with metal wings that catch the wind and power the ship.

Mitsubishi Corporation’s Pyxis Ocean, chartered by Cargill, is the first vessel to be retrofitted with two WindWings, which are large wing sails measuring up to 37.5 metres in height that can be fitted to the deck of cargo ships to harness the power of wind.

Produced by Yara Marine Technologies, for Cargill and BAR Technologies, they are expected to generate average fuel savings of up to 30 percent on new build vessels, which could be even higher if used in combination with alternative fuels. Each of the wings saves 1.5 tonnes of fuel a day when the ship is at sea. That’s 4.65 tonnes less Co2 emissions per wing, per day, said John Cooper CEO of BAR Technologies.

The installation of the wings took place at the COSCO shipyard in China and the Pyxis Ocean is now on the water, conducting her maiden voyage.

“The maritime industry is on a journey to decarbonize – it’s not an easy one, but it is an exciting one,” said Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill’s ocean transportation business. “At Cargill we have a responsibility to pioneer decarbonizing solutions across all our supply chains to meet our customer’s needs and the needs of the planet. A technology like WindWings doesn’t come without risk, and as an industry leader – in partnership with visionary shipowner Mitsubishi Corporation – we are not afraid to invest, take those risks and be transparent with our learnings.”

The WindWings project, which is co-funded by the European Union as part of the CHEK Horizon 2020 initiative, can help the industry meet decarbonization targets by offering a retrofit solution that is capable of working on existing vessels. About 55 percent of the world’s bulker fleets are up to nine years in age.

See more: Bar Technologies has posted a YouTube video about the project.

The performance of the WindWings will be closely monitored over the coming months to further improve their design, operation, and performance, with the aim that the Pyxis Ocean will be used to inform the scale-up and adoption across not only Cargill’s fleet but the industry. BAR Technologies and Yara Marine Technologies are already planning to build hundreds of wings over the next four years and BAR Technologies is also researching newbuilds with improved hydrodynamic hull forms.

“If international shipping is to achieve its ambition of reducing CO₂ emissions, then innovation must come to the fore. Wind is a near marginal cost-free fuel and the opportunity for reducing emissions, alongside significant efficiency gains in vessel operating costs, is substantial. Today is the culmination of years of pioneering research, where we’ve invested in our unique wind sail technology and sought out a skilled industrialization partner in Yara Marine Technologies, in order to provide vessel owners and operators with an opportunity to realize these efficiencies,” Cooper said.