Study eyes potential for adding high-tech sails to bulkers

Retrofitting a ship with Fastrig sails could come by as soon as 2021

NOVEMBER 21, 2018 — The Drax Group, operator of the U.K.’s largest power station, is partnering with Copenhagen headquartered bulker operator Ultramax, the Smart Green Shipping Alliance (SSGA), and Humphreys Yacht Design to explore the fitting of an advanced sail technology to bulk carriers.

Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire has converted two thirds of its capacity to use biomass instead of coal and last year it imported 6.8 million tonnes of compressed wood pellets in 221 deliveries to the ports of Immingham, Hull, Tyne and Liverpool. By using biomass, Drax has delivered carbon savings of more than 80% compared to coal. The savings include supply chain emissions, with shipping remaining one of the most carbon intensive parts of thechain.

Now, a £100,000 (about $128,000) 12-month study funded by InnovateUK, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and private investors will examine the potential of fitting an innovative sail technology called Fastrig onto Ultrabulk ships importing biomass into the U.K., for cutting both carbon emissions and costs.

The innovation leads on the project, Rob and Tom Humphreys of Humphreys Yacht Design, have a background in ocean racing.

“Transferring knowledge and technologies from offshore yacht racing to improve the performance of commercial merchant ships mirrors the way Formula One drives design development in the automotive industry,” says Tom Humphreys..

The first six months of the project will be a technical feasibility study, establishing the mechanical parameters for retrofitting the Fastrig solution onto ships. The next six months will focus on putting together a business case and calculating detailed costings for the project. The aim is to retrofit a ship with the Fastrig technology which, depending on the outcome of the feasibility study, could come by as soon as 2021.

“We are very much looking forward to working with our partners at Drax and Smart Green Shipping Alliance,” says Per Lange, CEO of Ultrabulk. “The feasibility study initiated is very much in line with the environmental focus of Ultrabulk and the shipping industry at large.

“We have made considerable improvements to NOx and SOx emissions; the latter being the focus as in 2019 the SOx emission has to be reduced by 85 per cent. As an industry we are under way to deliver on these limits, but we shall naturally not stop there.”