MITSUI O.S.K. Lines has announced that one of its capesize bulk carriers has been successfully retrofitted with two rotor sails.
Camellia Dream received two Norsepower rotor sails which the Japanese shipping line says is the world’s first case of rotor sails on a capesize bulk carrier.
The 200 000-tonne carrier is currently employed on a mid-term contract for Brazilian mining and metals company Vale, for transportation of iron ore, and the Japan-flagged vessel marked its first call at Ponta de Madeira, Brazil.
MOL says Camellia Dream is expected to achieve approximately six to ten percent reductions of fuel and greenhouse gas emissions on her routes between Brazil and far east Asia as a result of the rotor sails, combined with voyage optimisation technology.
Norsepower is a Finnish clean technology and engineering company specialising in modern auxiliary wind propulsion.
Norsepower’s rotor sails have previously been installed on ships of various types, including tankers, LCO2 carriers, bulk carriers, and RoRo, but this marks the first installation on a capesize carrier.
“MOL and VALE will continue to work towards both the stable transportation of iron ore and the reduction of GHG emissions, to contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society” MOL said in the announcement.
The move is part of MOL’s environmental mission to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The company has recently been investing in wind propulsion technologies for a number of its vessels, including recently in July this year when it announced the delivery of bulk carrier Green Winds, which MOL said was the world’s first crane vessel to feature the Wind Challenger hard sail system.
