Wind-assisted propulsion continues to gain speed to cut CO2 emissions from shipping, with Brazilian mining giant Vale announcing the installation of five rotor sails on one of the world’s largest ore carriers
The Brazilian charterer is working with Anemoi Marine Technologies on the project, which will see five 35-m tall, 5-m diameter, cylindrical sails installed on 400,000-dwt Sohar Max. The Asyad Shipping-owned bulker will use Anemoi’s bespoke folding deployment system, which allows the units to be folded from vertical to mitigate impact on air draught and cargo handling operations. The installation work is expected to be completed in Q2 2024.
Asyad’s four Valemax very large ore carriers are dedicated to carrying Vale Oman’s iron ore imports, amounting to 9.9M tonnes per year, from Brazil to Sohar under a long-term contract.
Trading on deepsea routes, these large vessels are particularly well-suited for wind propulsion, yielding a projected 6% fuel reduction and cutting CO2 equivalent emissions by up to 3,000 tonnes per ship per year, according to Anemoi.
“Wind energy will play a central role in our strategy to decarbonise the maritime transport of iron ore”, said Vale shipping technical manager Rodrigo Bermelho.
Vale has a target to reduce its Scope 3 emissions – which includes CO2 emissions from shipping – by 15% by 2035.
Anemoi has also been appointed by Vale to undertake a full array of technical services both pre- and post-delivery, including the vessel integration design with Shanghai Ship Design and Research Institute, support with plan A approval, project management and onsite supervision, onboard training and after-sales service.
Classification for the project will be awarded by Lloyd’s Register, which is also providing services related to the Equipment Design Approval and Plan Approvals for vessel integration.
This latest project from Anemoi follows the retrofit of three rotor sails with rail deployment systems on board an 82,000-dwt Kamsarmax bulk carrier in June 2023. Anemoi reports initial data harvested from the vessel suggests more than 10% average annual savings can be achieved.
Rotor sails and other wind-assisted ship propulsion technologies are proving a popular choice to improve the energy efficiency of ships to comply with IMO emissions-reduction targets, including EEDI/ EEXI and the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII).
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Carbon emission reductions from bulk shipping will be addressed during a panel discussion at the International Bulk Shipping Conference in London on 20 November 2023. For more details on the programme or to register please click here.
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