Vale to install rotor sails on an ore carrier

Brazilian mining company Vale has inked a deal with Omani shipping firm Asyad to install rotor sails on one of its chartered ore carriers.

PHOTO: Illustration of Vale’s vessel with rotor sails installed. Vale

The Valemax vessel, Sohar Max, will be fitted with five 35-metre-high rotor sails to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. Valemax vessels are the largest bulk carriers ever constructed that are owned or chartered by Vale.

Sohar Max, which is owned by Asyad and chartered by Vale, is the world’s largest ore carrier, Vale said in a statement.

UK-based rotor sail manufacturer Anemoi Marine Technologies will provide the rotor sails.

A rotor sail is a modernised form of Flettner rotor based on the Magnus effect, which creates air pressure to cause spinning.

Under favourable wind conditions, the rotor sails will enable the vessel's main engine to throttle back and consume less fuel while providing enough power to maintain speed.

The installation is due to be completed in the second quarter of 2024, when the trials are set to begin.

Upon installation, the rotor sails are expected to allow “efficiency gains of up to 6%” and cut “CO2 equivalent emissions by up to 3,000 tons per ship per year,” Vale claims.

“Wind energy will play a central role in our strategy to decarbonize the maritime transportation of iron ore,” Vale’s shipping technical manager Rodrigo Bermelho says.

Wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) have been gaining popularity among shipowners as they look for technologies that can boost vessel performance, reduce fuel use, and enhance sustainability.

Last month, Anemoi Marine Technologies inked a deal with China-based Hudong-Zhongua Shipbuilding Group to design the rotor sails to be installed on two new LNG carriers.

Also last month, French shipping firm Louis Dreyfus Armateurs revealed its plans to build three low-emission roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ships equipped with Flettner rotors.

By Tuhin Roy

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