Amasus and UML retrofit ships with sails and rotors

Dutch shipping company Amasus is to equip a second ship with bound4blue rigid sails, and two newly built Union Maritime Limited (UML) chemical tankers will be fitted with Flettner rotors. WASP becomes ordinary.

Following the Eems Traveller, which will be equipped with two Bound4Blue sail systems by 2023, Amasus’ Fluvius Tavy has now also been fitted with a single suction wing. In both cases, the placement of the systems on the stern is striking. For lateral balance, it is better to have the sail point more forward to avoid excessive weather helm and for better efficiency. We see this in the installations of Ecoflettner, Norsepower, and Econowind, among others.

No doubt Bound4Blue is also aware of this and the considerations for this placement are interesting. It could be, for instance, that sightlines play a bigger role or that they are willing to take the reduced efficiency for granted to further test and optimise this system, which is the largest suction wing installation to date. This has reportedly been the consideration with the Ems Traveller, among others, and Amasus received a substantial discount on the system for this.

Rotors

Union Maritime, meanwhile, is equipping two more chemical tankers with Anemoi Flettner rotors. The tanker shipping company Union Maritime is betting more on wind propulsion and is expanding its windassist fleet. Two new-build chemical tankers, under construction in China, will both be fitted with a pair of Flettner rotors from UK-based Anemoi. Union Maritime is not leaving it at that and has planned for sail propulsion to play an important role in their newbuilding plan.

British BAR, manufacturer of wing sails, and Finnish Norsepower, manufacturer of Flettner rotors, among others, have supplied systems with further installations planned. In addition, Union Maritime is well aware of the importance of training crew in the use of these systems. To this end, they are developing advanced models of their ships equipped with wind propulsion for simulator training in collaboration with Finland’s Wärtsilä.

Source: own newsgathering by Pablo Albers.
Photos sourced from the companies involved.

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