MOL to retrofit sail propulsion system on coal carrier Kurotakisan Maru III
How Kurotakisan Maru III will look with her new Wind Challenger system installed (Source: MOL)
The Mitsui OSK Line (MOL) owned, 89,999dwt 2021-built coal carrier Kurotakisan Maru III is to be fitted with MOL’s own design of sail-assisted propulsion system, Wind Challenger system, developed in co-operation with domestic shipyard Oshima Shipbuilding.
The retrofit project, the first on an existing vessel, will take place in the second half of 2025.
The Wind Challenger system is a telescoping hard sail that converts wind power to propulsive force.
This will be MOL’s second Wind Challenger-equipped coal carrier, following the 100,422dwt 2022-built newbuilding Shofu Maru, which operates for Tohoku Electric Power.
The introduction of the Wind Challenger system on the Kurotakisan Maru III is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 5 % on a Japan-Australia voyage and by around 8 % on a Japan-West Coast North America voyage, compared to a conventional vessel of the same size.
MOL said that it will continue to pursue the use of wind-assisted energy-saving technologies such as the Wind Challenger, and other makes, to reduce its fleet’s greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the realisation of a low carbon society.
The Japanese shipping giant expects to have 80 sail-assisted vessels in operation by 2025 – a mixture of newbuildings and converted tonnage.
