JAPANESE #shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) delivered a cargo vessel equipped with a wind propulsion system on Friday, October 7.
The vessel, Shofu Maru, is the first of its kind to be equipped with a Wind Challenger, a hard sail wind propulsion system.
It is developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding and uses a telescoping hard sail that harnesses wind power to propel the vessel. By installing the system, it is possible to reduce the amount of fuel used for operation, which is expected to reduce environmental impact and improveeconomic efficiency.
After the vessel delivery, a naming and handover ceremony was held at Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.
It will transport coal mainly from Australia, Indonesia and North America as a dedicated vessel for Tohoku Electric Power Co.
The introduction of the Wind Challenger is expected to reduce greenhouse gas ( #GHG ) emissions by about 5 percent on a Japan-Australia voyage and about 8 percent on a Japan-North America West Coast voyage, compared to a conventional vessel of the same type, and contribute to curbing GHG emissions during fuel transportation.
MOL and Tohoku Electric Power Co. continue to work toward both stable transport of energy resources and reduction of their environmental impact.
Source: msn
