Lift-off for SkySails

The first application of the SkySails towing kite propulsion system on a cargo vessel has been undertaken by Beluga Shipping GmbH. The multi-purpose heavy lift vessel was recently christened ?Beluga SkySails? and is equipped with a kite measuring 160 square metres. Later, when the sail is scaled up to 320 square metres in the course of the coming year in order to increase efficiency on the high seas, potential savings of 20 to 30% are claimed to be feasible and realistic. Beluga Shipping GmbH initially reckons with a reduction in the existing bunker costs for the vessels diesel fuel within a low four-digit US dollar range per day of operation of the towing kite system.

In the case of two larger multi purpose heavy lift project carriers of the Beluga P1- series, which are to be equipped with SkySails systems in the near future, too, and are currently under construction, kites having a sail area of as much as 600 square metres will then be used. On this basis, fuel savings in the dimension of up to ten tons daily can be anticipated according to present-day estimates, corresponding to a reduction in ship voyage expenses of over $6,000.

Even before her maiden voyage from Bremen to Venezuela with project cargo on board the ?Beluga SkySails? opens a new chapter in shipping history and hopes it will be practical proof that the hybrid propulsion system is possible on water and is able to achieve what many felt was absurd in this combination, i.e. reducing emission and at the same time lowering the voyage costs.