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This month, for the first time in living memory, a cargo ship with wind in its sails will take to the high seas, carrying the hopes of the shipping industry for a clean and green future free from the dependency on oil.
It's no ordinary clipper replete with rigging and tons of canvas. The MV Beluga, due to sail on its maiden voyage from the German port of Bremen across the Atlantic to Venezuela, is closer to a kite-surfer on steroids. Giant sails of 160 square meters complement the Beluga’s existing power plant; the more wind, the less fuel is used.
Developed by SkySail, the propulsion technology is based on a similar concept to paragliding. It consists of a towing kite with a rope, a launch and recovery system and a control system for automatic operation. With future kite sails up to 600 square meters being proposed, it will cut fuel consumption in half in the right conditions. A significant advantage of the SkySail technology is it can be retrofitted to virtually all existing cargo ships and the force it exerts is similar to that of a tug.
This could be a major boon to the shipping industry, which is coming under increasing criticism for its poor environmental track record. Despite making up around 3 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions -- between 600 and 900 million metric tons -- there is no international effort to limit shipping’s emissions. Marine diesel is also very dirty, emitting around 10 per cent of global sulphur dioxide emissions, 30 per cent of toxic nitrogen oxides and high quantities of black carbon or soot.
SkySail’s kite is double-walled, which gives the aerodynamic properties of an aircraft wing, and it can operate not just downwind but also at courses of up to 50 degrees to the wind. According to SkySail’s testing, the most power comes for ships taking courses of between 120-140 degrees to the wind.
This development is a remarkable revival in the potential of using wind for propulsion on the high seas. The last sailing cargo ships were displaced by the development of steam engines in the 19th century and eventually diesel-powered ships in the 20th century. The new kite-based technology has many advantages over older sailing technology, such as minimal heeling and smoothing the ships’ movement through waves. Further, by avoiding masts and rigging it keeps the deck space clear for cargo, which is essential for modern cargo ship design.
22 January 2008 09:08pm
That is sooooo cool. What's old is new. Again ! Makes you wonder how the Germans could have lost two wars when they can come up with stuff like this !
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