Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power) have decided to install the Seawing, an automated kite system powered by wind power, on the coal carrier Corona Citrus.
As explained, this system combines expertise in aviation and maritime technologies, which enable progress of propulsion assist in shipping. The kite can be deployed and stored automatically with simple switching operations. As stated by the company, the system collects and analyzes weather data and marine data on a real-time basis and uses the information to optimize its performance and secure maximum safety.
Completed on September 11th, 2019, Corona Citrus (88,000 DWT-type special coal carrier for J-Power) is equipped with a ballast water treatment system for protecting marine ecosystems. The coal carrier also comes with a SOx scrubber, which eliminates sulfur oxides in exhaust gas from its engine, so as to comply with the regulations on SOx emissions that came into effect globally in January 2020.
The newly installed Seawing is expected to reduce CO2 emissions from the ship by at least 20%. Thus, it is one of main K Line’s initiatives to achieve its GHG reduction target.
