Anemoi puts rotor sails on fourth VLOC

Anemoi Marine Technologies, the UK-based designer of Rotor Sails for wind-assisted ship propulsion, has completed the retrofit of yet another of the world’s largest vessels following the installation of five 35-metre-high units on the 400,000 DWT ore ship NSU Tubarao.

The vessel, owned by bulk owner/operator NS United Kaiun Kaisha, Ltd (NSU) and chartered by mining giant Vale International*, is expected to reduce fuel consumption by 6-12% per year thanks to its wind-assisted propulsion system. This is Anemoi Rotor Sails’ fourth VLOC installation on vessels chartered by Vale*.
With this, Anemoi has installed Rotor Sails on vessels with a combined tonnage of more than 1.6 million DWT.

The installation of the Rotor Sails on the five-year-old vessel, currently under a long-term charter to carry iron ore for Vale, was completed during a scheduled dry-docking in October at Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard Co.,Ltd, China. The Rotor Sails are deployed using a folding (tilting) mechanism for flexibility during loading and unloading.
NSU combines Rotor Sails with digital solutions that optimise the vessel’s energy consumption and route, improving fuel efficiency on the NSU TUBARAO and maximising the use of wind energy.

The vessel was also equipped with a new propeller shaft generator. This upgrade not only improves the energy performance of the vessel itself, but also optimises fuel consumption when using Anemoi’s Rotor Sails. Anemoi has successfully integrated its Rotor Sail technology into the vessel’s shaft generator through integration with the control system, ensuring seamless coordination between wind propulsion and on-board power supply. As a result, this installation is among the most efficient wind propulsion retrofit projects to date.

Source text and image: Anemoi Marine.

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