Rigid sail Kamsarmax makes its first voyage to Brazil

A Kamsarmax bulk carrier retrofitted with rigid sails set sail late last month on its first voyage from Singapore to Brazil, introducing another new marine technology to cut emissions and fuel use.

Installation of the two 37.5m WindWing sails on the 2017 built, 80,962 dead weight tonne (dwt) Pyxis Ocean was installed at Chinese state-owned Cosco's Shanghai shipyard in China. WindWings can save 1.5 t/d of fuel per WindWing on an average global route, according to its developer Norwegian shipping equipment firm Yara Marine Technologies, with the possibility of more savings on transocean routes.

WindWings is designed by UK marine engineering firm BAR Technologies and produced by Yara. Pyxis Ocean is owned by Japanese trading house Mitsubishi and is currently on a time charter with US-based trading firm Cargill.

An annual savings of 3 t/d of very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) on a low ship speed operation amounts to about $516,500/yr, reducing carbon emissions by about 2,552 t/yr. This is based on a standard Kamsarmax that consumes an average of 22.5 t/d travelling at sea, completing 3.6 round trips annually on the Brazil-China route, assuming a total of about 99 days, with approximately 75 days at sea and 24 days at port. The price of VLSFO with 0.5pc sulphur content at Singapore was assessed by Argus at $637.69/t on 4 September.

"Rotors and rigid sails can easily cost $1mn to $1.5mn each and ships often need at least three or more", according to Cargill. "The return on investment typically is about 7-8 years," said Cargill's president of ocean transportation Jan Dieleman.

"Sails could help cut emissions on a newbuild ship optimised for wind by as much as 30pc, which equates to about 6,400 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year," according to Cargill.

Installation of UK-based Anemoi Marine Technologies' rotor sails on the 2017-built, 82,048dwt Kamsarmax the TR Lady was projected to save an average of 14.4pc of fuel, based on an optimal low ship speed operating profile.

Other wind-assisted propulsion systems currently being trialled within the shipping industry include one built by Finnish company Norsepower, with rotor sails to be installed on an iron ore bulk carrier operated by Brazilian mining firm Vale. Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines' wind challenger technology uses a telescoping hard sail installed on a coal carrier, which is expected to cut emissions by around 5pc on a Japan-Australia voyage.

Argus has launched daily Carbon Cost of Freight indexes, helping businesses involved in transporting a range of commodities with accurate pricing of the emissions from their ships. Offsetting shipping emissions is becoming compulsory under EU legislation passed in 2022.

By Pranav Vadehra, Sean Zhuang and Andrew Khaw