The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime Administrator has awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Anemoi Marine Technologies (Anemoi) for their Rotor Sail systems following a review of two bespoke configurations of the wind-propulsion technology.
In particular, Rotor Sails, also known as “Flettner” rotors, are vertical cylinders that harness the renewable power of the wind to provide additional forward thrust to the vessel and thereby improves its energy efficiency, along with a reduction in carbon emissions.
The RMI Maritime Administrator’s AiP was issued after undertaking a comprehensive review of a 210,000 deadweight ton (DWT) Newcastlemax bulk carrier designed by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI), thereby validating Anemoi’s four Rotor Sails (measuring 5 meters (m) x 35 m) with a folding deployment system and six Rotor Sails (measuring 5 m x 30 m) with a bespoke rail deployment system.
The review also included a technical assessment of how the installation of Rotor Sails in both configurations will impact the vessel’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) calculations, with an estimated improvement of 20% for the rail system and 17% for the folding deployment system for the vessel’s EEDI.
The RMI Maritime Administrator is fully committed to supporting industry efforts to continuously evolve and improve safety and environmental performance on board vessels. We are very pleased to award this AiP as the Anemoi Rotor Sail systems provide a means for the commercial shipping industry of today to once again leverage wind energy as a means of propulsion and to reduce its carbon footprint.
..Jasbir Jaspal, Deputy Commissioner of Maritime Affairs, RMI Maritime said.
Wind propulsion has found its place in modern commercial shipping and this partnership is the latest step in demonstrating the positive impact of Rotor Sails.
Kim Diederichsen, CEO of Anemoi Marine Technologies.
To remind, earlier this month, on 5th February, Anemoi Marine Technologies secured a grant from the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) Round 4, a part of UK SHORE’s initiatives to reduce emissions in the shipping sector, to develop and test a new 3.5m diameter by 24.5m high Rotor Sail design.
