Its 4 real “Trimmer wanted must be strong”
A SHIPPING company is planning to go back to the future, by harnessing wind power to boost the propulsion of its ocean-going container ships.
The “SkySail”, a 160 square-metre kite tethered to a mast, has successfully undergone lengthy trial runs and now the shipowner, Beluga Shipping, of Bremen, Germany, is building the container vessel MV Beluga SkySails, equipped with one, to make its maiden voyage early next year.
“I got the idea on a yacht a few years ago,” Stephan Wrage, the inventor and founder of SkySails said. “I love flying kites and found sailing rather slow. I thought the enormous power in kites could somehow be utilised.” The technology he has developed is a throwback to an earlier age of maritime travel when ships relied solely on wind, but it addresses a key concern of the modern age: climate change. Backers of “SkySail” call it a “green” project – by cutting fuel use it could help to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Mr Wrage, 34, said that depending on the vessel and the winds, fuel costs could be cut by more than £500 a day.
After four years of tests, it is anything but a pie-in-the-sky project.
The inventor first tested a prototype of the SkySail on a three-metre boat, and then gradually increased the size of the craft, before testing it last year on a 55-metre vessel, the Beaufort.
But SkySail’s price tag – at between £330,000 and £1.65 million – doubts that it will deliver the promised savings, and its reliance on fickle ocean winds could limit demand at first.
Mr Wrage said that ships will initially need to carry an engineer to operate the sail, which is about as big as a medium-sized passenger jet.
“It’s going to save money in the long run and it’s environmentally friendly,” said Verena Frank, the project manager at Beluga, a firm with 40 vessels.
“We’ve integrated the system into our new ship from the start of construction, but ships can also be retro-fitted,” she said. “Ours will be the first commercial use in cargo shipping. There will be some teething pains.”
Mr Wrage has a staff of 33 and in 2007 expects to equip three more ships with the SkySail. He projects that 1,500 vessels will have the system by 2015, when he reckons he will have 800 employees.
“It was important for me to prove that you can make money working hand in hand with nature and not against it,” he said. “I think there could be a lot more linking of ecology and economy.”
Niels Stolberg, Beluga’s chief executive, said market forces were the main reason he decided to enter a partnership with “SkySails” in 2002. He placed the first order almost a year ago.
He expects SkySails to cut the £3,750 daily fuel costs of his cargo ship by up to £750. And he said the positive impact on the environment was a welcome dividend.
“You’ve got to look at new ideas to cope with developments in oil prices,” Mr Stolberg said, adding that it was not possible to pass on such steep fuel prices to customers.
If SkySails works as expected, he plans to add the system one vessel at a time. “When energy prices double in such a short time, you’ve got to innovate,” Mr Stolberg said.
“We won’t be able to switch the engines off. But we’re confident we can reduce fuel usage – and cut emissions.”
