Out with the new, in with the old? A collaboration between Cargill, BAR Technologies, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Yara Marine Technologies has the potential to decarbonize cargo vessels by up to 30 percent — with sails.
Innovations in Cargill’s transportation sector only make sense with their regenerative collaborations involving agriculture.
The partnership’s innovation, BAR Tech WindWings, has already set sail on open waters on Mitsubishi Corporation’s Pyrix Ocean, chartered by Cargill. The large wing sails measure 37.5 meters in height and can be fit onto the deck of cargo ships to harness the power of the wind.
“The maritime industry is on a journey to decarbonize — it’s not an easy one, but it is an exciting one,” said Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill’s Ocean transportation business. “A technology like WindWings doesn’t come without risk, and as an industry leader — in partnership with visionary shipowner Mitsubishi Corporation – we are not afraid to invest, take those risks, and be transparent with our learnings to help our partners in maritime transition to a more sustainable future.”
The WindWings project is co-funded by the European Union as part of their CHECK Horizon 2020 initiative.
The performance of the WindWings will be closely monitored over the coming months to further improve their design, operation, and performance, with the aim that the Pyxis Ocean will be used to inform the scale-up and adoption across Cargill’s fleet and the industry.
BAR Technologies and Yara Marine Technologies are already planning to build hundreds of wings over the next four years, and BAR Technologies is also researching new builds with improved hydrodynamic hull forms.
“If international shipping is to achieve its ambition of reducing CO2 emissions, then innovation must come to the fore. Wind is a near marginal cost-free fuel and the opportunity for reducing emissions, alongside significant efficiency gains in vessel operating costs, is substantial. Today is the culmination of years of pioneering research, where we’ve invested in our unique wind sail technology and sought out a skilled industrialization partner in Yara Marine Technologies, in order to provide vessel owners and operators with an opportunity to realize these efficiencies,” said John Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, BAR Technologies.
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