Spain’s Bound4blue has installed what it says are the biggest-ever suction sails on a Dutch cargo ship.
The 17-metre eSAILs have been retrofitted on an Amasus Shipping multipurpose, the 2,850-dwt Eems Traveller (built 2000).
The Barcelona-based company said the system is based on the use of a thick aerodynamic profile and smart suction to increase the propulsive efficiency, resulting in a system that produces seven times more lift than an airplane wing.
The latest version is “new and improved”, it added.
The vessel is owned by Amasus Shipping of the Netherlands.
Bound4blue said the installation was executed in two distinct phases.
A year ago, during a scheduled regular drydocking of the MPP, the foundations for the sails were fitted in the Netherlands.
The sails were attached in Bilbao in less than four hours last week.
Jose Miguel Bermudez, chief executive of Bound4blue, said: “In the same way that we need proven sustainable solutions to decarbonise the industry, we also need to implement them as fast and efficiently as possible.”
“We have utilised for the first time the port infrastructure to install our systems, demonstrating that shipowners don’t have to wait for the scheduled maintenance of the ship to start reaping the benefits of wind propulsion,” he added.
Marubeni cooperation
The work was approved by French classification society Bureau Veritas within the framework of the Sails for Cargo project, which is co-funded by Fondo Puertos 4.0.
Last month, the sail company teamed up with Japanese trader and shipowner Marubeni to market its system worldwide
Marubeni is also due to have four 26-metre sails fitted to its 84,860-dwt bulker Crimson Kingdom (built 2016).
