Amasus installs suction sails on cargo vessel
Dutch shipping company Amasus has installed a pair of suction sails on its general cargo vessel.
PHOTO: Amasus’ cargo vessel Eems Traveller equipped with wind-assisted propulsion systems. Amasus
The 2,850-dwt cargo vessel, Eems Traveller, has been fitted with two suction sails by Spanish sailmaker bound4blue. This marked “the largest installation of fixed suction sails on a ship to date,” bound4blue claims.
Dubbed "eSAIL", its a type of wind-assisted propulsion system (WAPS) based on active boundary layer control using suction, wherein an air pump is used to extract the boundary layer on the sail, thereby reducing drag by improving the airflow.
This “produces 6-7 times more lift than a conventional sail, with minimal power consumption and no mechanical complexity.” The suction sails offer “excellent aerodynamic characteristics, which make it possible to offer double-digit reductions on fuel consumption and pollutant emissions,” according to bound4blue.
The Spanish sailmaker “has been monitoring the ship to obtain its baseline performance,” which will be utilised by a third party to evaluate “the fuel and emission savings results in the next 12 months.”
The installation was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the foundations were manufactured and installed in the Netherlands a year ago during the vessel’s dry-docking phase. The sails were connected to the reinforcement at the Port of Bilbao in the second phase last week.
Wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) have gained traction among shipowners as they can improve fuel efficiency and also reduce emissions. Last month, Bureau Veritas (BV) awarded an approval in principle (AiP) to a group of companies for equipping a very large crude carrier (VLCC) and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier with wind-assisted propulsion systems.
Also last month, marine engineering consultancy BAR Technologies and Finland’s naval architect firm Deltamarin partnered to develop a new vessel design that integrates wind propulsion technology.
By Tuhin Roy
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