Spanish based wind propulsion company bound4blue announce that it has now successfully installed two 17-metre-high eSAILs® on Dutch flagged “Eems Traveller”, a 2,850-dwt general cargo vessel owned by Dutch based Amasus.
The eSAIL system from bound4blue is categorized as a suction sail, which is based on the use of a thick aerodynamic profile and smart suction to increase the propulsive efficiency, resulting in a system that produces seven times more lift than an airplane wing the company explain.
The installation was executed in two distinct phases the company states, as one year ago, during a scheduled regular dry-dock of the vessel, the foundations for the eSAILs® were manufactured and installed in The Netherlands. The verticalization manoeuvre and connection to the reinforcement of the sails was completed in less than four hours at the Port of Bilbao last week, which all can be seen in the company video below.
In between these two phases bound4blue mention that the company has been monitoring the ship to obtain its baseline performance, which will be used by a third party to assess the fuel and emission savings results in the next 12 months. In this way, scientifically validated results are obtained, which can be used to demonstrate the actual effects of the system in use on board of the vessel and form the basis for any future further development.
“In the same way that we need proven sustainable solutions to decarbonize the industry, we also need to implement them as fast and efficiently as possible. As evidence of this, we have utilized for the first time the port infrastructure to install our systems, demonstrating that shipowners don’t have to wait for the scheduled maintenance of the ship to start reaping the benefits of wind propulsion,” said José Miguel Bermúdez, CEO of bound4blue.
“The joint development of this wind propulsion concept marks an important milestone and contribution to the aspiration in creating a sustainable future. As Amasus, we are proud and delighted to realize this new project together with our partners from bound4blue,” said Arend-Jan Rozema, Managing Director of Amasus.
This installation, which is approved by Bureau Veritas, has been done within the framework of the Sails for Cargo project, co-funded by Fondo Puertos 4.0 of Puertos del Estado, with the support from Port of Bilbao, Bilbao PortLab and Toro y Betolaza.
