A giant kite designed to help slash the spiralling cost of fuel consumption could herald the winds of change for commercial cargo shipping.
The first freighter to be fitted with the hi-tech sail was launched in the north German port of Hamburg in December by Eva Luise Koehler, wife of German President Horst Koehler.
”It is an important step for the future,” ship owner Niels Stolberg said as the huge yellow-and-white rectangular strip of nylon fluttered above the MS Beluga SkySails.
The paraglider-type sail is tethered to the bow of the 132m-long vessel, owned by the Bremen-based Beluga Shipping GmbH. A computer adjusts the height and the angle of the sail, which was developed over a period of four years by the Hamburg company SkySails.
”At last we can prove to the world that our system is reliable and will help reduce costs and emissions,” said Stefan Wrage (35), the man behind the project.
The designer spent months testing the new technology on a smaller ship before outfitting the Beluga SkySails, which is due to leave the port of Bremerhaven on its maiden voyage to Venezuela in early January.
Flying at a height of 100m to 300m, the kite will tug the ship, allowing its engines to operate at reduced speed, thus cutting back on fuel consumption.
Stolberg said initial fuel savings would be 20%, increasing to 30% or 35% after a test phase when the sail is unfolded from its current 160 square metres to its full expanse of 320 square metres.
But not everyone is convinced of the economic viability of the scheme. Experts say it would not work in head winds, storms or at speeds above 16 knots.
Wrage says the kite can withstand gales up to force eight on the Beaufort scale. He also dismisses fears it could pose a safety hazard if it collapses and gets caught in the ship’s propeller or blocks the view from the bridge.
”The tether is constructed in such a way that it can be sliced through by the propeller,” he says. As last resort an explosive charge can be used to release it completely, he told newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt.
Wrage hopes the experience gained from the Beluga SkySail‘s maiden voyage will provide information for series production of the kites.
Bigger ones with a sail expanse of 600 square metres are due to be rigged on two other freighters currently under construction for Beluga Shipping. ”This will enable us to slash our running costs by $6 000 dollars per ship each day,” Stolberg said.
The potential for hybrid ships is great in an industry where 30 000 merchant vessels carry 90% of the world’s traded goods.
If the kite’s debut is successful, then Wrage expects orders for another four to eight ships to be fitted with them by the end of next year. ”The number could reach 35 by 2009,” he added. — Sapa-dpa