Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Oshima Shipbuilding’s ‘Wind Challenger’ project has taken a step forward, with the announcement that a hard sail system is to be installed on a large bulk carrier currently under construction at Oshima Shipbuilding.
The installation will be performed after shoreside tests; MOL says that the vessel is scheduled for delivery in October 2022 after sea trials.
MOL has been promoting the Wind Challenger Project to harness wind as a propulsive force for merchant ships. The additional propulsion power from the wind is believed to reduce vessel’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by approximately 5% compared to conventional ships of the same class, on a typical Japan-Australia voyage, and by about 8% on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage.
The Wind Challenger Project started in 2009 with an industry-academia joint research project led by The University of Tokyo, and since 2013, the team has been chosen to receive a Japanese government-backed subsidy on next-generation marine environment-related technology research. In January 2018, MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding took charge of the plan and now play a central role in this project.
