World’s First Tiltable Rotor Sails Installed

Auxiliary wind propulsion systems provide Norsepower said it installed the world’s first tiltable Rotor Sails for SEA-CARGO, a logistics provider in the North Sea market.

According the analysis conducted by Norsepower and SEA-CARGO, installation of the two 35-meter tall Rotor Sails on board the SC Connector, a 12,251 gross tonne (GT) sidedoor RoRo vessel, can achieve a fuel consumption, fuel cost and carbon emissions reduction of up to 25%. In good wind conditions, the sailing vessel will maintain regular service speed by sail alone.

Norsepower’s Rotor Sail Solution is a modernized version of the Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to thrust a ship, thereby reducing fuel burn and emissions. The solution is fully automated and detects whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel and emission savings, at which point the Rotor Sails start automatically. The newly installed tiltable version is geared toward vessels that must negotiate height restricted routes.

SC Connector, which sails between Western Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and, also, Sweden and Poland, transits under multiple bridges and powerlines, requiring adaptation of the Rotor Sails to tilt to almost horizontal when required.

(Photo: Norsepower)

Tuomas Riski, CEO, Norsepower, said, “Completing the installation has been extremely rewarding, as it reflects how, in taking a collaborative approach with a customer, we can innovate to create solutions that allow Rotor Sails to benefit almost any vessel type or trading route. As we get closer to 2030 IMO targets, we are seeing our technology gaining momentum – with the market seeing the flexibility we can provide to suit different vessel requirements. This installation demonstrates the technology can go a long way to future-proofing IMO GHG compliance, while ensuring significant emissions, and fuel reductions to a variety of vessel profiles today.”

Ole Sævild, Managing Director, SEA-CARGO, said, “We are focusing on utilizing available renewable energy and using it for direct propulsion to design more environmentally friendly vessels. The Rotor Sail technology has been proven in the market for a while, but the size is unique for our project. The sails are far more efficient than conventional sails of the same size and the tilting function is essential to our voyage routes. Given the estimated emissions savings, we will use our experience of this full scale project, and proceed to develop it further for other vessels in our fleet.”