MITSUI O.S.K. Lines has announced delivery of its new bulk carrier Green Winds, the second MOL vessel to be equipped with a hard sail system.
The Japanese shipping line confirmed in an announcement yesterday (July 10) the completion of the 63896 DWT ultramax bulk carrier, completed at Oshima Shipbuilding Co. MOL Drybulk will operate the new vessel.
It is the second of nine planned vessels to be equipped with the Wind Challenger hard sail system, the first being Shofu Maru, which recently called the Port of Brisbane.
MOL also stated in their announcement that Green Winds is the world’s first crane vessel to feature the Wind Challenger.
Green Winds will sail under the flag of Panama, and has a length overall of just under 200 metres.
The newbuild is in line with MOL’s environmental vision to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The global player plans to launch 25 vessels equipped with the Wind Challenger by 2030 and 80 vessels by 2035.
The Wind Challenger is a hard sail system developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding that converts wind energy to propulsive force using telescoping hard sails.
With the Wind Challenger, the vessel is expected to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by about 7 to 16 percent, depending on the ship route and other conditions.
Earlier this year, MOL also announced their intention to install the Wind Challenger on their vessel Kurotakisan Maru Ⅲ, a coal carrier, which will make it the first vessel currently in service to receive the Wind Challenger system via retrofitting.
