Bulker equipped with rigid wing sails begins first voyage

The 80,962 dwt bulker, Pyxis Ocean, became the first vessel to be fitted with BAR’s WindWings system following the installation of the wings at the COSCO shipyard in China. The Pyxis Ocean is now on the water, conducting her maiden voyage.

The installation of the WindWings was partially funded by the European Union as part of EU Horizon 2020 Project CHEK, dedicated to demonstrating solutions for decarbonising international shipping.

The two WindWings, large wing sails measuring up to 45 meters in height that can be fitted to the deck of bulk cargo ships, are expected to generate average fuel savings of up to 30% on newbuild vessels.

The performance of the sails will be closely monitored over the coming months to further improve their design, operation, and performance, with the aim that the Pyxis Ocean will be used to inform the scale-up and adoption across not only Cargill’s fleet but the industry. BAR Technologies is already planning to build hundreds of wings over the next four years and is also researching new builds with differing hydrodynamic forms.

“The maritime industry is on a journey to decarbonize—it’s not an easy one, but it is an exciting one,” said Jan Dieleman, President of Cargill’s Ocean transportation business. “At Cargill we have a responsibility to pioneer decarbonizing solutions across all our supply chains to meet our customer’s needs and the needs of the planet. A technology like WindWings doesn’t come without risk, and as an industry leader – in partnership with visionary shipowner MC Shipping – we are not afraid to invest, take those risks and be transparent with our learnings to help our partners in maritime transition to a more sustainable future.”