Mitsui O.S.K. Lines along with the global energy company Enviva shake hands and signed a memorandum of understanding agreement in an effort to develop and deploy a bulk carrier featuring a rigid sail.
Under their collaboration, both sides will focus on reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the ocean transportation of sustainable wood pellets.
What is more, the partnership will explore the environmental benefits, commercial and operational feasibilities of various technologies. This will include a cargo ship design with a Wind Challenger – a solution that converts wind energy to propulsive force with a telescopic hard sail.
To remind, MOL have been jointly studying the technology with cross-industry partners and expects the first Wind Challenger to be released in 2022.
Enviva is extremely excited to partner with MOL on this innovative project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our supply chain. In our recently announced goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, we committed to proactively engage with our partners and other key stakeholders to adopt clean energy solutions in our supply chain and this is one of the first opportunities for us to explore carbon reductions in our Scope 3 emissions.
…said Thomas Meth, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Enviva.
Toshiaki Tanaka, Managing Executive Officer and Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer of MOL, said the partnership had come at a ‘perfect’ time as the company prepares to launch its new business entity, MOL Drybulk, in April.
By integrating the various areas of Drybulk businesses amongst our group, MOL Drybulk will aim to improve our service and provide solutions to meet the various needs of our customers, including the reduction of emissions from our shipping service.
…said Tanaka.
As explained, plans to develop the Wind Challenger started in 2009 as an industry-academia joint research project led by the University of Tokyo. MOL took charge of the plan in 2018 and has since been working on the technology. As previously reported, it received approval in principle from ClassNK in 2019.
Concluding, MOL noted that the long-term goal is to develop a widely accepted shipping solution to achieve the International Maritime Organization target in combination with other measures to reduce GHG by equipping vessels with multiple sails.
