Special attention ｜ The world's first ship equipped with two sails is coming!

A few days ago, the merchant ship Mitsui announced the signing of a new ship construction contract with the large island construction. It is planned to be equipped with the "Wind Challenger" hard sail system for the company's second bulk cargo ship. Biological energy producer Enviva Inc. transported wood. It is reported that the new ship will be delivered in 2024.

The merchant ship Mitsui clearly stated that under the "Environmental Vision 2.1" it announced, the net zero emissions of greenhouse gas will be achieved by 2050, and the application of wind energy -saving technology will be further promoted. This is a bulk carrier that cooperates with the Shipai Mitsui Mitsui and Ship Island Shipbuilding.

The "Wind Challenger" project began in 2009 and was led by the University of Tokyo.

The first study (September 2009-September 2014)

Investigation of a large bulk carrier (180,000 yuan), equipped with 9 large rigid sails (the area of ​​each sail is 1,000 square meters <50 meters*20 meters &), and clarifies the technical, economic and regulatory matters. feasibility. For beam air (wind speed is about 12 meters/second), these sails can make the ship reach 14 knots without engine power. In the actual maritime navigation (Japan-North America route) using engine power and sail, the simulation results show that fuel consumption can be reduced by about 30%each year. Since October 2011, research has entered the actual sail design and construction stage. In the winter of 2013, the large -scale sail model (1/2 proportion model <25 meters*10 meters &) was built obtained the strength and aerodynamic data under various weather conditions.

Study of the second phase (November 2013-March 2016)

The design and operation methods of large merchant ships equipped with sails are studied. Improved the energy prediction procedures (EPP) and navigation simulation of the first stage of development, and the design and ship operation methods are also further improved, especially the use of global aircraft -based shipping methods, such as the best route for faith and Western wind, so that this can be used in order to be the best route to this so that this can be designed to this so that this can be designed to this so that this can be designed for this so as The new shipping business model is applied faster.

Third Study (October 2014-September 2017)

While conducting a large -scale sail model test analysis and the establishment of real large -scale sail construction methods, the inspection and development of specific ship design is performed. In addition, check the design of the new type of self -driving instrument for relevant rules and safety requirements. Subsequently, the detailed design of a truly sailing ship was completed.

In 2018, the merchant ship Mitsui and Oshima began to prepare for the "Wind Challenger" project. In October 2019, the hard sail system involved in the design of the project was obtained in principle recognition (AIP). In December 2020, the merchant ship Mitsui and the Northeast Electric Power Company of Japan signed a transport contract with a ship equipped with the system, which plans to use the ship for coal transportation. In October this year, the coal shipping boat will be officially put into use. According to the previous evaluation, the coal-deduction ships with the "Wind Challenge" hard sail system can be reduced by about 5%on the greenhouse gas emissions on the Japanese-Australian route and decreased by about 8%on the Japan-North American West Coast route.

Unlike the first "Wind Challenger" ship, the new ship also considers the use of the "spin sail" developed by Anemoi Marine Technologies LTD as the feasibility of the auxiliary wind promotion system. This means that the ship will become the world's first ships to use two sails in the world.

The application of rotary sails has long been used in ships, and time can be traced back to the 1920s. Today, this relying on natural principles has attracted more and more attention. Oil tanks, bulk ships, ferry and other ship types have practical applications installed with such technologies. The design of the "Wind Challenger" hard sail system is relatively new. It is installed on the deck of the tadpoles and is made of fiber enhanced plastic (FPR) to meet the requirements for strength and weight. Hard sail, automatically rotate to the direction that can make full use of wind power.

- END -