Maersk will attach two experimental high-tech sails onto one of its tankers as part of a pilot testing their efficiency and useability. These modern sails, which are 30m high spinning drums, could reduce average fuel consumption by 7 to 10 percent on global shipping routes, its developers say.
They will be retrofitted to a 109,000-deadweight tonne product tanker in the first half of next year and testing at sea will start in 2019.
Called Flettner rotors, the spinning sails work by accelerating the flow of air on one side to creating pressure imbalance that propels the ship forward — the same principle that causes a ball to curve in the air when spin is applied to it. The technology is not new and was first demonstrated by Anton Flettner in 1924.
The Finnish firm Norsepower, which is developing the sails that will be attached to Maersk’s ship, says its rotors, made of lightweight composite materials, are 10 times more efficient than traditional sails. They allow a tanker to throttle back its engines without affecting scheduling.
