Rotor sail installation completed on oil tanker

Tianjin-based Dealfeng New Energy Technology specialises in energy-saving and emissions-reduction products. The company’s rotor sail is made of lightweight, strong composite material. A fully automatic control system allows the sail to generate forward thrust using the Magnus effect, where wind causes a pressure difference around the rotating rotor sail while the vessel sails. 

Delivery of the rotor sails took three months following the approval of drawings by China Classification Society, with vessel delivery set for early 2024.

The shipowner hopes to achieve a reduction of around 8% fuel and greenhouse gas emissions using the sails, lowering the power and energy consumption of the vessel’s main engine when wind conditions are favourable, saving fuel and maintaining speed and travel time. 

Additionally, following the signing of a retrofitting contract with Offshore Oil Engineering Co, Ltd, Dealfeng has installed two sets of 4 m x 18 m Dealfeng rotor sails on a 25,000-dwt deck carrier classed by China Classification Society. The vessel will be delivered 20 December 2023. 

A member of the industry group International Windship Association, Dealfeng added it plans to install a 4 m x 24m Flettner rotor sail on a bulk carrier this year. 

Other major rotor sail adopters include Brazilian mining giant Vale. A major vessel charterer, Vale announced the installation of five rotor sails aboard 400,000-dwt Sohar Max, one of the world’s largest ore carriers.