Netherlands-based Louis Dreyfus Company is to install four wind assist technologies on board one of its chartered juice carriers, the Atlantic Orchard.
The global commodities trading company has signed a contract with Spanish technology firm Bound4Blue to install four systems, known as suction sails, on board the 39,202-dwt vessel operated by Sweden’s Wisby Tankers.
The systems will be 26 metres high and installed on the 10-year-old vessel during 2024, adding to the list of ships the system makers have signed contracts to install units on.
Bound4Blue has another contract with Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, based in France, to install similar systems on Ville de Bordeaux, a vessel on charter to Airbus. There are also contracts to install systems on an Odfjell tanker.
The installation of wind assist systems is beginning to increase in number as owners look to novel technologies to meet regulations such as the Carbon Intensity Indicator limits, the entry of shipping into the European Union’s emission trading scheme and the Fuel EU Maritime requirements.
Charterer pressure to secure greener supply chains is also beginning to play a role, according to Bound4Blue co-founder and chief operating officer Cristina Aleixendri in a recent conversation with TradeWinds.
