CARGILL, BAR TECHNOLOGIES' WIND TECHNOLOGY PAVING A LOWER CARBON COURSE FOR MARITIME INDUSTRY

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Cargill and BAR Technologies’ groundbreaking innovation, BAR Tech WindWings by Yara Marine Technologies set sail on open waters, testing new technology that will bring cutting edge wind propulsion to commercial shipping for the first time.

According to a statement, 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 industrialisation partner Yara Marine, they are expected to generate average fuel savings of up to 30 per cent on new build vessels, which could be even higher if used in combination with alternative fuels.

President of Cargill Ocean Transportation business, 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.

“A technology like WindWings does not 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 to help our partners in maritime transition to a more sustainable future.”

The installation demonstrates a step-change in attitudes towards technologies that can enable an energy transition for existing vessels.

Co-funded by the European Union as part of the CHEK Horizon 2020 initiative, the WindWings project, can help the industry meet those targets by offering a retrofit solution that is capable of decarbonising existing vessels, which is particularly relevant given that 55 per cent of the world’s bulker fleets are up to nine years in age.

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 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.

-- BERNAMA