LNG-wind powered hybrid cruiseship first
The company said that the deal will mean that the M/S Viking Grace will become the world’s first LNG/wind electric powered hybrid ship. It’s also the first modern auxiliary wind propulsion technology installation onboard a cruise ship.
Ulf Hagström, Senior Vice President, Marine Operations & Newbuildings, Viking Line, said: “As an organisation that strives to ensure that our fleet operates in an environmentally friendly and economical way, we are proud to be partnering with Norsepower.”
The 57,565 GT M/S Viking Grace currently operates in the archipelago between Finland and Sweden and is already one of the most environmentally-friendly cruise ferries in the industry. With the addition of Norsepower’s technology, the vessel will further reduce its emissions, fuel burn and fuel costs, reducing carbon emissions by circa 900 tonnes annually. This is the equivalent to cutting 300 tonnes of LNG fuel per year.
Preparations for the retrofit are underway, with the installation scheduled to take place during the second quarter of 2018. M/S Viking Grace is set to be retrofitted with one medium-sized Norsepower Rotor Sail unit that is 24m in height and 4m in diameter.
The Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution, which can be installed on new vessels or retrofitted on existing ships without off-hire costs, is a modernised version of the Flettner rotor, a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to propel a ship.
It’s fully automated and senses whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel savings, at which point the rotors start automatically, helping to optimise crew time and resource.
Two small units of Norsepower’s Rotor Sails are already installed on board Bore’s M/S Estraden, a 9,700 DWT Ro-Ro carrier. Measured and independently verified by NAPA, the Rotor Sail Solution delivered fuel consumption reductions of 6.1% for the vessel.
