Oldendorff chooses rotor sails
Artistic rendering of the vessel Dietrich Oldendorff which is to be outfitted with three 24m x 4m Norsepower Rotor Sails™ (Source: Norsepower)
Lübeck-headquartered dry bulk owner, Oldendorff, is to install three Norsepower Rotor SailsTM on board the 100,449dwt gearless bulk carrier, Dietrich Oldendorff, built in 2020. The vessel, contracted to operate on a North Pacific trade to Asia, is to have three 24m by 4m sails retrofitted during the second quarter of this year.
Norsepower’s Rotor Sails are modernised, digital-era versions of the Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that creates forward thrust, saves fuel and cuts emissions. The spinning rotors are partly manufactured from plastic bottles.
Installed on various ships over the last decade, the company’s Rotor Sails have clocked up more than 310,000 operating hours and have proved one of the most popular Wind Assisted Propulsion System (WAPS) technologies so far.
Torsten Barenthin, Oldendorff’s director of Research & Development, said: “We are extremely excited about reducing fuel consumption and emissions by harnessing the power of the wind with Norsepower Rotor Sails, a proven energy-saving product.”
Norsepower CEO, Tuomas Riski, commented: “Oldendorff is a dream customer for Norsepower in more than one way: a family-owned, legendary, company with over 100 years operating in the industry and around 700 vessels on the water today. Oldendorff is making green shipping a reality today and is the best partner we could have on our journey towards the zero-carbon industry. I wholeheartedly welcome Oldendorff’s commitment to Norsepower’s mission of decarbonising shipping and look forward to the next possibilities for cooperation!”
