South Korean wing sail design awarded AiP
by DNV GL
Rendering of a VLCC with the wings sails in place (Source: KSOE)
An auxiliary propulsion wing-sail system developed by Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and Seoul-headquartered SK Shipping has been awarded Approval in Principle (AiP) by classification society, DNV GL.
The 20m-wide wing sails, with a height of 50m, are installed vertically on both sides of a ship’s deck. Suitable for many vessel types, the wings are rotated by wind intensity and direction to generate additional propulsive thrust. They can be lowered to just 10m in height in bad weather, for example, or when subject to air draught constraints.
Head of Future Ship Research at KSOE, Hyunjoon Shin, said: “We are speeding up efforts to bring eco-friendly technologies to the market. The wing sail system will reduce fuel consumption by more than 6%. We will take the lead in the next-generation ship market and continue to strengthen our technological competitiveness.”
SK Shipping vice president, Haeyong Son added that this promising technology would provide shipowners with new opportunities to tackle carbon emissions and meet IMO standards.
Not only has DNV GL recently developed a standard for certification of wind-assisted propulsion systems, but it has also adopted a new class notation – WAPS (Wind Assisted Propulsion System). The AiP could well prove to be a significant step towards the award of this notation for the first time.
