Mitsui OSK Lines has agreed to fit two Norsepower rotor sails to a capesize bulker on charter to Brazilian iron ore mining giant Vale.
The rotor sails are expected to be installed in the first half of 2024 on an unnamed 200,000-dwt bulker, the Japanese shipowner said Wednesday.
The bulker is currently employed under a midterm contract for the transportation of iron ore for Vale, MOL added.
The ship is expected to achieve about 6% to 10% fuel and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, combined with voyage optimisation technology — enabling “significant advancements towards decarbonisation goals and reducing fuel consumption”.
The Norsepower rotor sail produces thrust as the wind generates differential pressure around the slewing rotor while the vessel is sailing.
Vale already has some experience of the Norsepower technology, having fitted them on a VLOC newbuilding fresh out of a shipyard in China in 2021.
The five 24-metre-high tilting rotors were installed on the Pan Ocean-owned, 325,000-dwt guaibamax vessel Sea Zhoushan (built 2021).
The vessel was built at China’s New Times Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, which made adaptations for the ship to take the sails, which were later fitted at PaxOcean Engineering Zhoushan.
In November 2021, MOL and Vale disclosed that they had teamed up to study the potential for rotor sails on large bulk carriers.
The study examined how the green technology could help reduce GHG emissions on a 200,000-dwt vessel while underway.
The Japanese shipowner opted for the rotor sail design developed by UK-based company Anemoi Marine Technologies for the study.
Earlier this year, Norsepower added French shipowner and operator Socatra to its client list for its rotor sail technology.
Socatra’s French-flag 50,000-dwt MR tanker Alcyone (built 2002), which is chartered by TotalEnergies, is to have two rotor sails installed.
The units will be delivered in December 2023 from Norsepower’s new production hub in China, with installation scheduled for late 2023 or early 2024.
