World's 1st wind-powered ship sets sail for İstanbul

ROTTERDAM

The world's first chemical tanker ship fitted with massive rigid aluminium "sails" has left Rotterdam, its owner hoping to plot a route to bringing down the shipping industry's huge carbon footprint.

The MT Chemical Challenger, a 16,000-ton chemicals transporter set sail from Antwerp for Istanbul on Feb. 16, and will undergo sea trials along the way.

Built in Japan and kitted out with four giant 16-metre-high sails similar to aircraft wings, the tanker's owners hope to cut fuel consumption by 10 to 20 percent as the sails will allow the ship's captain to throttle back on the engine.

"As an avid sailor myself, I have been thinking for a long time how we can make our industry more sustainable," said Niels Grotz, chief executive of Chemship, which operates a fleet of chemical tanker vessels mainly between U.S. ports in the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Mediterranean.

Global shipping - which burns diesel and other bunker fuels - contributed around 2 percent of the world's carbon emissions in 2022, the International Energy Agency said.

New guidelines by the International Maritime Organisation said shipping emissions needed to be cut by at least 40 percent by 2030 and down to zero by around 2050 if the Paris Climate Accords are to be achieved.

"Shipping has always been extremely competitive and it will be a struggle to reach these targets," admitted Grotz, who added the company was unlikely to "make money" on its latest project.

"But we have to bring down CO2 emissions - and we decided we're not just going to sit and wait for something magical to happen."

"With the sails on this ship we're expecting a yearly reduction of some 850 tons. That's the same output as around 500 cars annually," Chemship added in a statement.

Grotz said the project to put sails on one of his chemical tankers - with others to follow - came when he and Dutch company Econowind, which specialises in building wind propulsion systems for ships, first put their heads together three years ago.

Last week the installation of the four sails was completed while the Chemical Challenger lay dockside in Rotterdam's massive sprawling harbour.

Although not the first modern ship to be kitted out with rigid sails - last year British firm Cargill put a wind-assisted cargo ship to sea for instance - Chemship said their Chemical Challenger is the world's first chemical tanker ship with sails.

Built similar to an aeroplane wing, the rigid aluminium sails are equipped with a system of vents and holes to maximise airflow in winds of up to 61 kilometers.

"This system called a 'ventilated wingsail' increases the wind's power by five times -- and gives the same power as an imaginary sail of around 30 by 30 metres," said Rens Groot, sales manager at Econowind.