Shipping giant to install 35-metre sail on cargo vessel to cut fuel bill

Maersk is to harness the power of the wind by installing a high-tech sail on one of its cargo ships in an attempt to reduce fuel costs.

The Danish shipping giant has commissioned London-based wind-propulsion specialist Anemoi to fit a 35-metre sail on one of its container ships.

The sail will allow the vessel to maintain its usual speed while throttling back its engines to save fuel and cut emissions, or go faster than otherwise possible, reducing journey times.

It will mark the first time that a modern sail has been installed on a container ship, where decks piled high with thousands of boxes leave little room for additional structures.

Anemoi, founded 10 years ago by Costas Apodiakos, a shipping magnate, will fit a rotor sail that generates power by spinning in the wind and has a spread of just five metres. That’s far less than rival sails such as the 20-metre-wide WindWings model from fellow British startup Bar Technologies.

The single sail will also be fitted close to the front of the 100,000-tonne Maersk Labrea, keeping well clear of its cargo of 8700, 6.1-metre containers.

Clare Urmston, Anemoi’s chief executive, said that the experiment could open the door to a flood of orders from the container sector if the sail delivers the targeted fuel savings.

She said the company’s Chinese construction site on the Yangtze River, about 160 kilometres from Shanghai, could be expanded to produce up to 250 sails a year.

“Wind is one of the most effective ways to improve the energy efficiency of vessels, and it’s also free,” Urmston said.

“The scalability in the container ship market could be huge. If the performance is as we expect it to be, we would move to a full-scale rollout.”

During trials that will start next year, the Labrea will operate on its usual trans-Atlantic routes, but hunt out the windiest stretches to maximise the boost to its speed, she said.

“The rotor sail works well in bad weather. It likes a good storm and doesn’t need to be folded in high winds like the wing-type sail,” she added.

Anemoi has installed its technology on 28 vessels to date, mostly bulk carriers and oil tankers with unencumbered decks, including the 400,000-tonne ore carrier Sohar Max, which consumed 6 per cent less fuel after being fitted with five rotor sails.

Ole Graa Jakobsen, head of fleet technology at Maersk, said that “wind-assisted propulsion is one of several promising maritime solutions with the potential to improve vessel efficiency”.