Lately, it was introduced that Bound4Blue’s eSAIL® suction sails shall be put in on an Odfjell chemical tanker and a ro/ro for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.
The expertise goes by numerous names. When developed for Jacques-Ives Cousteau’s analysis vessel, Alcyone, it was known as a turbosail. The Dutch agency eConowind‘s model is named a ventfoil. And Bound4Blue eSAIL® are termed suction sails.
No matter you name it, the designs are fastened airfoil-shaped spars with an inside fan that makes use of boundary layer suction to generate thrust. The suction system helps the airflow to re-adhere to the sail, producing further raise, lowering the load on the ship’s essential engines, and delivering financial savings in gas consumption and CO2 emissions.
Odfjell chemical tanker
Odfjell will set up 4 eSAIL® suction sails on a chemical tanker.
“Since 2020, we’ve got been finding out sail applied sciences as a possible power effectivity measure for our fleet, and we’re excited to now take the subsequent step by partnering with bound4blue to implement their pioneering eSAIL® system on one in all our chemical tankers,” mentioned Jan Opedal, Supervisor Initiatives at Odfjell. “This expertise has important potential to scale back emissions by harvesting the power on the ship itself and remodeling it straight right into a ahead thrust.”
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs Ro/Ro
French delivery firm Louis Dreyfus Armateurs working with Airbus, which charters one in all its ships, will set up Bound4Blue suction sails on a ro/ro cargo vessel as a check of the expertise, the first-ever fastened suction sail set up on a ro/ro.
The three 72-foot-high suction sails shall be fitted aboard the Ville de Bordeaux, a 19-year-old Ro-Ro inbuilt 2004 and working for Airbus transporting A320 plane subassemblies from Europe to Cellular, Alabama for remaining meeting. The vessel registered in France is 506 toes in size and 5,200 dwt.
“We at Airbus have been finding out wind-assisted applied sciences as a possible power supply for our maritime operations for a few years,” mentioned Nicolas Chrétien, Head of Sustainability & Atmosphere at Airbus. “This expertise appears to be like promising and we’re keen to start out testing it in actual situations by the top of the yr.”
The suction sails shall be put in on the Ville de Bordeaux forward of a six-month efficiency monitoring interval beginning in early 2024.
Bound4Blue asserts that the expertise creates as a lot as six to seven occasions extra raise than a standard inflexible sail.
