Wind IN THEIR SAILS

TASKED WITH CUTTING EMISSIONS RAPIDLY, OCEAN SHIPPERS ARE TURNING TO AN ANCIENT METHOD WITH A MODERN TWIST

- DAMIEN MARTIN

Shipping freight over the oceans is one of the most efficient ways to move goods around the world.

But it could always be better. Container ships produce about 3% of the world’s carbon emissions, and the International Maritime Organization has pledged to bring that down to zero by 2050. The bunker fuel ships run on is a strong pollutant, and shippers are racing to find alternatives as the IMO’s targets are 20% emissions reduction from 2008 levels by 2030 and 70% by 2040. One solution is the force that’s propelled ships across the open water for millennia: the wind.

WIND WINGS

The WindWings sails on the Pyxis Ocean bulk carrier vessel rise to 123 feet above the ship’s deck. The brainchild of BAR Technologies, they spent six months on the high seas starting last August and saved 11.2 metric tons of CO2 emissions for each day in operation according to Cargill, which chartered Pyxis Ocean for a pilot test and has engaged 250 ports worldwide to examine the feasibility of accommodating ships with WindWings.

The sails can fold flat on the deck whenever a ship needs to pass under a bridge, but that limits their use to bulk carriers which have storage below deck only. BAR Technologies says it will try fitting ships with three WindWings rather than two on future voyages to further reduce emissions.

“We believe technologies that harness the wind could be an important, cost-effective way to achieve our decarbonization goals in the short, medium, and long-term,” Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill’s Ocean Transportation business, told the BBC.