SkySail ship slashes fuel consumption

The world’s first commercial ship powered in part by a giant kite is recording fuel savings of between 10 and 15 % midway into its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, according to Bremen-based Beluga Shipping.

The 10,000 dwt ?Beluga SkySails? left Germany on 22 January for Venezuela and its computer-guided kite system was only fully deployed after it reached the trade winds near the Azores, said Verena Frank, Beluga Shipping’s SkySails project manager. The 10 to 15 % reduction in bunker consumption, which amounts to $1,000 to $1,500 per day savings, is in line with projections made by the shipping company and SkySails. The SkySail system, which is also designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, had never before been used on a ship this large.

Although there is still a lot of testing, adjusting and experimenting taking place, the company aims is to have the kite operational for about 50 % of the entire maiden voyage. “Once the bugs have been ironed out and the crew’s expertise with the 500,000-euro ($745,000) high-tech system improves, fuel savings are projected to be up to 20 %.” Said Frank. The kite system had never before been tried under such difficult conditions as found in the mid-Atlantic and the crew is working on improving the coordination of the system.

“We’re adjusting, programming, testing, fine-tuning, and working on the stability,” wrote Captain Lutz Heldt in a cable to the Beluga home office in Bremen. Heldt had picked a traditional windjammer route south of the Azores. The ship is due to arrive in Venezuela on 5 February.

Skeptics in the shipping industry say the kite system would never be enough to drive the biggest class of oil tankers that are 25 to 30 times larger than the Beluga SkySails.