Shipping firm Cargill has chartered the world’s first wind-powered cargo ship, with the ship asail across the Pacific Ocean on its maiden journey from China to Brazil.
The Pyxis Ocean vessel has been retrofitted with two large wind sails, BAR Tech WindWing’s designed by Yara Marine technologies, which open out when the ship is in open water and stand at 37.5 metres tall.
The WindWing innovation – which has been cofunded by the European Union as part of the CHEK HORIZON initiative – is expected to help generate fuel savings of up to 30% on new build vessels, with the potential to be even higher if combined with other alternative fuels.
The shipping industry is responsible for around 3% of global carbon emissions, with aviation responsible for 2% of global carbon emissions.
Recently, the International Maritime Organisation, the UN body which regulates the shipping sector, agreed a climate pledge to reduce its pollution to net zero by 2050, but experts have criticised the plans for not being adequate enough to tackle the industry’s contribution.
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“The maritime industry is on a journey to decarbonise – it’s not an easy one, but it is an exciting one,” Cargill Ocean transportation business president Jan Dieleman said.
“At Cargill we have a responsibility to pioneer decarbonising solutions across all our supply chains to meet our customer’s needs and the needs of the planet”.
He added: “A technology like WindWings doesn’t come without risk, and as an industry leader, in partnership with visionary shippower Mistubishi Corporation – we are not afraid to invest, take those risks and be transparent with our learnings to help our partners in maritime transition to a more sustainable future”.
BAR Technologies CEO John Cooper said: “If international shipping is to achieve its ambition of reducing C02 emissions, then innovation must come to the force. Wind is a near marginal cost-free fuel and the opportunity for reducing emissions, alongside significant energy gains in the vessel operating costs, is substantial.”
He continued: “Today is the culmination of years of pioneering research, where we’ve invested in our unique wind sail technology and sought out a skilled industrialisation partner in Yara Marine Technologies, in order to provide vessel owners and operators with an opportunity to realise these efficiencies”.
